KUALA LUMPUR • The number of Malaysians who fled to flood evacuation centres doubled to 2,611 people on Saturday evening, as heavy rain continued to fall in Terengganu and Kelantan states, Bernama news agency reported yesterday.

Malaysia's east coast states get hit annually by monsoon rains between the end of the year and the early weeks of the new year, causing rivers to overflow.

The country's worst flooding in recent years occurred between December 2014 and January 2015, with more than 200,000 people evacuated from their homes at the peak of the inundation, and with 24 people killed.

The flooding then hit 11 of Malaysia's 13 states, including Sabah and Sarawak in East Malaysia, along with Johor and Kedah.

In Terengganu on Saturday, 2,296 people in four districts were sheltered in 40 flood relief centres, a surge from 875 people on Friday night, the news agency said.

In Kelantan, the flood victims totalled 315 people, compared with 185 people on Friday.

The Drainage and Irrigation Department publishes rainfall data, river levels and flood forecasts on its portal publicinfobanjir. water.gov.my