Floods in Malaysia
The recent flash flood (July 15) at Mulu National Park in Sarawak claimed two lives, tour guide Roviezal Robin and Dutch tourist Peter Hoverkamp.
Another flash flood occurred at Genting Highlands in Pahang. Zero fatal casualty was reported, but it caused major traffic congestion that lasted for hours.
Meanwhile, Melaka was also hit by flash floods earlier this month, leading to more than 1,000 people being displaced. The districts affected were Alor Gajah and Melaka Tengah.
Heavy downpour was the reason behind these floods. The water from the downpour was stuck at certain areas due to inadequate drainage system and overflowing rivers, thus the floods happened.
Based on data from Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (MAMPU), the number of floods in Malaysia has been decreasing since 2016.
However, floods are unpredictable. According to the trend of flood occurrence in the country, the number of floods fluctuated in the 2000s.
On the other hand, only major floods were recorded during the first half of 2010s. In fact, Malaysia suffered from major floods from December 2014 to January 2015.
Almost every state was hit by floods during that period with more than 200,000 people affected. Additionally, 24 fatalities were reported.
Besides, the states with the highest number of floodings were Kelantan (235 incidents) and Perak (230 incidents).
In Kelantan, the overflowing of the Kelantan River has been a cause for numerous floods since 2001. In 2017, 26 out of the 47 recorded floods in Malaysia happened in Kelantan, while more than half of it (14 incidents) were linked to the Kelantan River.
Nevertheless, floods can happen anytime, anywhere. In 2016, the state with the most floods was Selangor with 30 incidents. Meanwhile, Kedah and Penang also contributed to the statistics with 22 and 20 incidents respectively.
The recent floods also happened at different locations, i.e. Pahang, Melaka and Sarawak. With the unpredictability of this natural disaster, precaution and preventive methods need to be established by the authorities to minimalise the potential flood damage.