Malaysia warns of worst flooding in a decade as monsoon season hits; 63,000 in shelters

KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysian officials have warned that the worst flooding in a decade is expected to hit over the next few days, with Deputy Prime Minister Zahid Hamidi raising the spectre of the 2014 “bah kuning” (yellow flood) that hit Kelantan and displaced more than 200,000 people.

The warning came after Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim told Parliament on the morning of Nov 28 that 37,000 people – 80 per cent of them in Kelantan – had been displaced due to flooding between Nov 24 and Nov 28.

Officials raised the number of people placed in shelters at 8.30pm on Nov 28 to 63,219, with 80 per cent from Kelantan.

“The Prime Minister had asked me to convene an emergency meeting of the National Disaster Management Committee. This time, the flood is expected to be worse than in 2014,” Datuk Seri Zahid told reporters in Putrajaya after chairing the meeting on Nov 28.

High levels of sea tides are expected next week, he said, which would worsen the flooding as they would prevent the rainwater swelling in rivers from draining into the South China Sea.

The Malaysian Meteorological Department issued a red alert warning on Nov 27, saying it expected continuous heavy rain in Kelantan, Pahang and Terengganu states. It expects the heavy rains to last until Nov 29.

Malaysia’s annual monsoon season typically impacts the states and districts in the north-east – Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and eastern Johor – between November and January.

But the effects of climate change have caused heavy rainfall in the last few weeks, affecting all 11 states in Peninsular Malaysia, as well as causing chaos in capital city Kuala Lumpur as rivers overflowed their banks.

Those who had to abandon their homes usually shelter in schools, community centres and town halls until the waters subside.

The reference to “bah kuning” recalls the December 2014 disaster, when high floodwaters containing plenty of mud – hence the name yellow flood – displaced over 202,000 people in Kelantan alone, with 14 deaths. Dozens of houses were swept away by the fast-flowing waters.

Nationally, 237,000 people had to abandon their homes temporarily to shelter on high ground, with a total of 21 deaths.

Kelantan’s Menteri Besar Nassuruddin Daud indicated that the water level in his house on Nov 28 had nearly risen to the height of the 2014 floods.

“I will show you the difference between the 2014 flood and the current water level in my house. The water level is rising rapidly,” he wrote in a Facebook post, accompanied by a picture showing floodwater rising to the staircase on his front porch in Kampung Meranti, a village just outside Kota Bharu, the Kelantan capital.

A resident of Kota Bharu, who wanted to be known only as Mr Jai, said he has been busy moving belongings out of his in-laws’ house due to the impending flood.

“The water is rising, but the rain isn’t as heavy as it was two days ago. If the rainfall is concentrated in Kota Bharu, there won’t be a flood,” the 40-year-old stationery seller told The Straits Times.

“But now we see heavy rain upstream in Kuala Krai and Gua Musang,” he added, meaning the waters will be rushing down to Kota Bharu.

The Kelantan state assembly was adjourned on Nov 27, a day earlier than scheduled, as the lawmakers spread out to focus on flood relief efforts.

On his Facebook account, Datuk Nassuruddin showed pictures of himself in a raincoat, driving a motorised boat to rescue villagers from their flooded homes.

There has been one reported death caused by the floods in 2024. A Kelantan man was electrocuted to death after attempting to unplug a washing machine as the floodwater rose to about 1m, Malay Mail online news reported on Nov 27.

National railway company KTM on Nov 28 suspended seven out of 11 trips in Kelantan as the rail tracks were flooded.