More than 122,000 people have been evacuated in Malaysia due to flooding

KUALA LUMPUR,:

More than 122,000 people have been forced from their homes as massive flooding caused by relentless rains swept across Malaysia’s northern states, disaster management officials said on Saturday.

The number surpassed the 118,000 evacuated during one of the country’s worst floods since 2014, and disaster officials feared it could rise further as torrential rains continued.

The death toll remained at four recorded in Kelantan, Terengganu and Sarawak.

Kelantan state bore the brunt of the flooding, accounting for 63 percent of the 122,631 evacuees, according to data from the National Disaster Management Agency.

Nearly 35,000 people were evacuated in Terengganu, with the rest of the displacement reported from seven other states.

Heavy rains, which started earlier this week, continued to lash Kelantan’s Pasir Puteh town, where people could be seen walking through streets flooded with waist-deep water.

“My area has been flooded since Wednesday. The water has already reached the corridor of my house and is only two centimeters away from going inside,” Pasir Puteh resident and school caretaker Zamrah Majid, 59, told AFP .

“Fortunately, I moved my two cars to higher ground before the water level rose.”

She said she allowed her grandchildren to play in the water in front of her house because it was still shallow.

“But if the water rises, it would be dangerous, I’m afraid they could be swept away,” she added.

“We haven’t received any assistance yet, whether it’s welfare or other types of assistance.” Muhammad Zulkarnain, 27, who lives with his parents in Pasir Puteh, said they are isolated.

“There is no way in or out for vehicles to enter my neighborhood,” he told AFP by phone.

“Of course I’m scared… Fortunately, we got some assistance from NGOs, who gave us food supplies like biscuits, instant noodles and eggs.”

The Malaysian Meteorological Department has warned that heavy rain will continue until Sunday in Kelantan, Terengganu and Perak.

Flooding is an annual phenomenon in the Southeast Asian nation of 34 million people due to the northeast monsoon that brings heavy rains from November to March.