About 40,000 people in the southern Malaysian state of Johor, bordering Singapore, have been forced to leave their homes and take shelter elsewhere, officials said. At least four people have died in the state due to rains and floods in the past week, they said on Saturday. – News from Yahoo News.
‘Usually we are prepared for the monsoon season of November-December. Each family has a boat. But now with the uncertain weather, it seems we are not prepared and the situation is becoming more chaotic,” Mohammad Noor, a 57-year-old resident of Yong Peng town in Johor’s Batu Pahat district, told Reuters. Authorities have opened more than 200 shelters for those displaced by the floods, Malaysia’s National Disaster Management Agency said.
Flooding is a regular occurrence in Malaysia during the monsoon season, which runs from October to March, but the downpours over the past week have forced many residents of Johor to run to shelters. While Johor was the worst-hit state, the recent floods have also affected residents of other Malaysian states, with many fleeing their homes and seeking refuge elsewhere. The country’s meteorological department has warned that more rain will be seen across Malaysia in the coming days. Most of the rain is expected in the southern states, they said.
