Peninsular Malaysia reels from '1 in 100 year' rainfall

The widespread flooding seen in many states in Malaysia in the last three days was caused by one-in-100-year heavy rainfall, a senior official at the country's Environment and Water Ministry said yesterday.

"The annual rainfall in Kuala Lumpur is 2,400mm and this means yesterday's (Saturday) rainfall exceeded the average rainfall for a month. It is something beyond expectations and occurs only once every 100 years," the ministry's secretary-general Zaini Ujang told a news conference. He was referring to rainfall as measured by a rain gauge.

Referring to measuring stations around Selangor-KL, he said, as quoted by Bernama, that the Sentul station recorded the highest at 363mm, Gombak was at 247mm, Jinjang at 258mm and Sungai Bonus Jalan Tun Razak at 273mm.

"This is an exception because during the monsoon season, only states in the east coast receive heavy rain," Datuk Seri Zaini said.

"But this time, the entire peninsula, especially the central east coast and northern peninsula regions, is receiving continuous heavy rain."

The heavy rain started falling last Friday but was most intense on Saturday.

Malaysia mobilised its armed forces and police to assist with flood evacuation, as more than 34,000 people have been displaced following the severe flooding in at least six states, including Selangor.

While preparations to deal with the floods had been made in states like Kelantan, Pahang and Terengganu, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said late on Saturday that Selangor had been caught off guard.

"In Selangor, it is rather chaotic because the floods were sudden as such occurrences rarely happened during the monsoon season," Datuk Seri Ismail was quoted as saying by The Star daily.

"This is opposed to other states like Pahang and Kelantan, which would have anticipated the effects of the year-end monsoon season," he added.

Mr Ismail said that his government will allocate RM100 million (S$32 million) for post-flood repairs for homes and infrastructure nationwide.

"The RM100 million is an initial funding. If it is insufficient, we will add on," he told a news conference while visiting Klang district in Selangor, one of the worst flood-affected areas.

Malaysia's King, Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah, likened the flooding to the major disaster of 1971, when flash floods caused by heavy monsoon rain in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor affected 180,000 people and killed 32.

At that time, Malaysia's total population was 10 million - a third of what it is today.

The King said that although 50 years had passed, Malaysians should take the floods as a lesson and be prepared to deal with them, especially in December and January.

Sultan Abdullah yesterday visited five relief centres in Selangor and KL to speak to evacuated Malaysians and hand out donations.

He was also seen wading into knee-deep flood waters at the World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday night.

A total of 5,731 relief centres were being prepared nationwide to accommodate up to 1.63 million flood evacuees, if necessary, for the monsoon season.

The Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel, or Smart, in Kuala Lumpur was utilised late on Saturday to allow flood water to drain through it.

Police were also on standby following an emergency discharge of water from the Klang Gates dam in Hulu Klang, whose water level had breached the danger mark.

At 1.40am yesterday, the Malaysian Meteorological Department issued a red danger alert, the highest level on a three-tier scale, for heavy continuous rain for Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Perak and Pahang.