Flooding in Malaysia displaces 140,000

World Today

More than 200,000 people in Malaysia were experiencing the country’s worst floods in decades, with at least 10 people killed. The hardest hit was the state of Kelantan on Malaysia’s northeast coast, where a combination of unusual tide conditions, the northeast monsoon winds, and heavy rain drove tens of thousands into emergency shelters.

CCTV America’s Rian Maelzer reported this story from Kelantan.

Flood waters forced more than 140,000 people from their homes in northeastern state of Kelantan alone. A school on the edge of the state capital Kota Bahru was sheltering 4,000 people after rivers burst their banks and inundated surrounding villages.

“By 2 a.m. when the water rose really fast, I was very scared for my two children. I quickly woke them up, and thankfully our neighbors rescued us in their small boat,” said flood victim Nor Aini Jusoh.

Malaysians were quick to donate food and other essential goods, which have been pouring into the state via commercial and military aircraft. But there have been reports of people going days with little or no food.

In the state capital, the water that swamped the streets on the weekend had mostly receded. But with only patchy electricity and no running water, shops remained closed. Villages on the outskirts of Kota Bahru were still under water Monday.

The waters in the area dropped a couple of meters since reaching its peak two days ago. But if the predicated rains come, the water levels may rise just as fast.

“In total my losses are in the tens of thousands of dollars. All the furniture is destroyed, motorbikes gone, two cars wrecked. It’s really terrible,” said flood victim Zulkifli Noor.

In more remote parts of the state, there was no clear estimate of the damage to property.