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Wednesday, 22 October 2025

Penang, Kedah brace for floods

Gear up: Motorcyclists stopping along the Penang Bridge to take shelter and to put on their raincoats as a heavy shower hits the area. — KT GOH/The Star

Public urged to stay vigilant , prepared

GEORGE TOWN: Penang and Kedah are on full alert as Malaysia braces for the La Nina season which is expected to bring heavy rain and possible flooding until December.

Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said all technical agencies and rescue teams had been mobilised.

“The Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) has carried out maintenance of retention ponds, rivers and drains at identified flood-prone areas,” he said yesterday.

He said DID had serviced hydrological stations, telemetric systems and flood-warning equipment to ensure they function properly. Under the state Disaster Management Committee, boats, mobile pumps, lorries and four-wheel-drive vehicles are on standby for quick deployment.

Flood operation control centres at state and district levels have also been activated.

Chow said 389 temporary evacuation centres across the state could be opened at short notice, while coordination with the Welfare Department and other agencies had been strengthened.

“From the agencies to local communities, everyone has a role in alerting authorities should any incident occur,” he said.

In Kedah, Civil Defence Force deputy director Major Muhammad Suhaimi Mohd Zain urged the public to stay vigilant and prepare for possible floods.

“Keep important documents in safe places and get ready an emergency bag with medicines, torchlight, dry food, water, clothing and power banks,” he said.

He reminded motorists to drive slowly in heavy rain and to switch on headlights.

“Preparedness and caution are key to minimising risks during La Nina,” he said.

Universiti Sains Malaysia atmospheric physicist Assoc Prof Dr Yusri Yusup said La Nina would typically bring increased rainfall and extended wet seasons, though its effects differed across regions.

“Coastal areas, hilly regions and low- lying towns are especially vulnerable to flash floods, landslides and crop damage,” he said.

He noted that MetMalaysia’s National Climate Centre had forecast a brief La Nina episode in early 2026, which could disrupt rainfall patterns before conditions return to normal.

“If it materialises, heavier monsoon rains can be expected in Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and parts of Sabah and Sarawak,” he said. - MRAN HILMY,

Related posts:

More heavy rain and flooding expected in Oct, says MetMalaysia

Friday, 3 May 2019

Check on coming monsoon floods in Penang !

Wake-up call: The floods that hit Penang in 2017 exposed its lack of flood mitigation and disaster preparedness.

GEORGE TOWN: The south-west monsoon season is expected to start sometime this month, prompting fears of flooding and falling trees here.

As dark clouds hang over Penang almost every morning now to herald the coming monsoon, talk of flooding in the state assembly sitting on Tuesday led to several lawmakers and the Speaker himself wanting to have a say.

“I am aware that some government agencies belittle the efforts of assemblymen who highlight flooding and other problems.

“As legislators who face the rakyat, they are carrying out their duties and I hope that the relevant agencies will take them seriously and not make fun of them,” said Speaker Datuk Law Choo Kiang during the day’s proceedings.

Lim Siew Khim (PH-Sungai Pinang) told the assembly how she and Ong Ah Teong (PH-Batu Lanchang) suffered verbal insults when visiting flood victims in Kampung Bukit Dumbar, where homes were flooded seven times, including a few days before the recent Chinese New Year.

This led to Dr Norlela Ariffin (PH-Penanti), Ong and Teh Lai Heng (PH-Komtar) to also stand up and voice their grouses.

Outside the hall, Ong said government officers handling flood problems tend to ignore the pleas of assemblymen.

“We are all in the same WhatsApp groups. When we highlight floods, they never respond,” he said.

Teh told the assembly that government officers don’t face the residents but the assemblymen bear all the insults from flood victims in their constituencies.

Dr Norlela said when she attended the monthly district meetings and called for strict enforcement to end the source of floodings such as deforestation, her pleas were often met with silence.

While the Sungai Pinang Flood Mitigation Plan – delayed for 20 years – has begun again with renewed federal funding, many are worried that the south-west monsoon will still bring back the floods this year.

Scientists Sheeba Nettukandy Chenoli and Chai Heng Lim, in a research paper published last November in the “Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics”, found that the onset of the mid-year monsoon will be on May 19 with a standard deviation of eight days.

State Environment Committee chairman Phee Boon Poh said this was the season when rain coinciding with extra high tides fuelled by the super full moon could lead to severe flooding.

“Between May and June, strong winds stir up huge tidal waves that are not safe for small boats,” he said.

A freak storm on Sunday caused several trees to fall on Penang island, one of them in Tanjung Bungah falling on a passing car.

To keep falling trees in check, State Works Committee chairman Zairil Khir Johari said a special committee was ironing out a method to pass the care of public trees from the Public Works Department (JKR) to Penang Island City Council (MBPP).

“JKR specialises in building and caring for roads and bridges but MBPP has a full landscaping team that includes arborists.

“This team has the know-how to care for public trees and recognise diseased trees that must be felled before they become a hazard.

“We are finalising a method for MBPP’s landscapers to have island-wide jurisdiction of roadside trees and be granted access to federal grants for their maintenance,” he said.

By Arnold Loh and R. Sekaran The Star

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