Malaysia: Floods force thousands of people to evacuate

As many as 17,185 people in Malaysia had to evacuate from their homes to 140 flood relief centres due to severe floods in the northern states of Kelantan and Terengganu, the Malaysian National Disaster Management Agency said on March 2.

Terengganu’s Kemaman district was worst-hit as flood water continued rising after downpours and its rivers are above the danger level.

Four people were killed in Kelantan state, where flood water rose to 2m in various locations.

The flooding dealt a blow to the high school graduation examination of 300 students slated this March. Local authorities and the educational sector of affected states have transferred the students to safe places to sit for the exam.

Earlier, heavy monsoon rains from mid-December to early January led to some of Malaysia’s worst flooding in decades.

About 50 people were killed and 125,000 people forced to leave their homes, with the authorities recording more than 1.45 billion USD in damage./.

VNA