Batu Pahat, Malaysia March 4 (BNA): Floods triggered by days of heavy rain have forced nearly 40,000 people to flee their homes in Malaysia’s southern state of Johor, which borders Singapore, and at least four people have died over the past week. He said on Saturday.
“We used to always prepare for the rainy season in November and December,” Mohammed Noor Saad, 57, from Yeong Peng town in Johor’s Batu Pahat district, told Reuters.
“Every house used to have a boat, but now with the unpredictable weather, it seems we are not prepared and it has become chaotic.”
The National Disaster Management Agency said the authorities have set up more than 200 relief shelters for people displaced by the floods.
Reuters reports that flooding in Malaysia is common during the annual monsoon season between October and March, but heavy rains this week have left many Johor residents scrambling to find shelter.
Carrying her belongings from her home into the thigh-high water, cafe worker Kubaiba Siam, 54, said she had resigned herself to fending for herself during the floods.
“What can we do? We cannot complain about our fate because everyone is in the same boat here,” she said.
While Johor was worst hit, there were floods in other states that displaced hundreds of people.
The Meteorological Department warned of more rain in the coming days, mostly in the southern states.