More than 21Â 000 people have been evacuated in Malaysia’s southern Johor state after continuous rains, causing what officials say are the worst floods in years.
”So far 21Â 742 people have been evacuated from eight districts in Johor. There have been no casualties,” Adnan Mohamad Yassin, an officer in the state’s relief centre, said.
”We always prepare ourselves to face the worst scenario during the monsoon season, but this year it is really bad, the worst in my experience,” he said.
Malaysia’s Human Resources Minister Fong Chan Onn on Wednesday appealed to employers to let workers take time off as the situation worsened, the state Bernama news agency reported.
”I hope that employers will grant leave to employees who can’t make it to their workplaces, as this is an emergency situation. They must look after the wellbeing of the workers,” Fong was quoted as saying.
”Let them take unrecorded leave or something, so that they can clean up their houses,” he said.
Adnan said a total of 126 villages with 4Â 767 families were affected by the north-eastern monsoon rains, which had inundated villages, highways and residential areas in eight of Johor’s nine districts.
Evacuees were placed in schools, town halls and even hotels, he said.
The worst-hit areas included the state’s densely populated capital, Johor Bahru, and the central towns of Kluang and Muar.
Adnan said relief operations were being coordinated by the government’s natural disaster department, and included rescue teams from the police, fire department, military and various humanitarian aid groups.
”We hope the water will recede soon so that people can go back to their homes. We have been told the rains could last for one week,” he said.
Reports on Wednesday cited government officials as saying the rains were a once-in-a-century phenomenon.
The rain also triggered mudslides, disrupting southbound rail services, including to Singapore. — AFP
