All hands on deck: Jalan Hang Tuah Fire and Rescue Station personnel checking on a rescue boat in Kuala Lumpur. — AZMAN GHANI/The Star
Authorities ensuring more concerted, coordinated efforts this time around
PETALING JAYA: An alert by the Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) that some states will have five days of continuous rain has sparked memories of the horrific Klang Valley floods of 2021, but this time the authorities say they are better prepared.
National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) director-general Datuk Khairul Shahril Idrus said this includes better communications and coordination, and bringing all assets to bear to ensure the safety and survival of affected residents during the northeast monsoon season.
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Since the northeast monsoon is expected to last until March next year, all government agencies are on standby, with personnel and assets ready to be deployed at any time, he added.
This is not just to handle floods, but also soil movement incidents such as landslides, he said.
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MetMalaysia issued an alert warning of continuous rain from Nov 19-23 for Terengganu, Kelantan (Tumpat, Pasir Mas, Kota Baru, Tanah Merah, Bachok, Machang and Pasir Puteh), and Pahang (Kuantan, Pekan and Rompin).
In Johor, the same weather conditions are expected in Segamat, Kluang, Mersing, Kulai, Kota Tinggi, and Johor Baru, it said in a statement yesterday.
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Three days of continuous downpours in the third week of December three years ago inundated much of the Klang Valley, leading to 48 deaths, thousands of people being evacuated, and houses and furniture damaged in several districts in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and parts of Pahang.
It won’t be the same this time, said Nadma’s Khairul.
“Nadma, together with all the other agencies, will not be merely responding, but we have put in mechanisms to be proactive in our guidelines for all agencies managing national disasters.
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“This time around, the policies and mechanisms to handle national disasters will be more (holistic) and inclusive, especially with the recent improvements made to the roles and responsibilities of Nadma, ministries and agencies, as well as more coordinated management of information.
“Our disaster geospatial management information system, which allows us to monitor all the states at any one time, is fully operational, with the dry run just done in September,” he said.
“Using this system, our dashboard alerts us the second a disaster strikes.
“We have also improved the disaster alert SOP (standard operating procedure) and have upped our mechanisms to ensure that our response is timely – for example, activation, reporting and communications of scene control posts known as PKTK and disaster control operations centres known as PKOB, as these are vital posts from which we will operate when disaster strikes,” he added.
Khairul said 82,794 personnel nationwide are ready, along with 2,031 speedboats, 1,399 four-wheel drives, 1,646 trucks and 31 helicopters.
“This does not include the many volunteers and assets on the ground which assist us during our operations.
“Health Ministry personnel too are on standby, with 44 medical teams and 53 healthcare teams nationwide,” he said.
“All these people and assets can be deployed at any time should floods or landslides strike.”
Taking care of victims would also be a priority.
“For flood victims who need to be evacuated, we have readied 5,063 schools, 389 community centres, 572 mosques and surau, and 2,457 community halls (as flood relief centres). These places can accommodate more than two million people,” said Khairul.
He added that a special alert system, funded by telecommunication companies, was created for early flood warning announcements through SMS alerts.
Nadma worked together with the Irrigation and Drainage Department, MetMalaysia, Malaysia Communications and Multimedia Commission and telecommunication companies to create a messaging system aimed at those in high-risk areas.
The telecommunications companies involved are CelcomDigi, Maxis, U Mobile, TM/Webe, YTL, TIME dotCom, DNB, XOX (Celcom Network), Tune Talk, redONE Network, BeONE Network (Celcom Network), and Valyou/HelloSim Network (Celcom Network).
“All the telecommunications companies have agreed to fully bear the cost of the SMS alerts as part of their corporate social responsibility,” said Khairul.
And it is not just the northeast monsoon that is wreaking havoc on the weather – MetMalaysia has said that the La Nina phenomenon is expected to bring five to seven monsoon rushes with episodes of continuous rain especially in the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia, south and west of Sarawak, as well as the north and east of Sabah.
Khairul said west coast peninsula states would also experience continuous rain if the monsoon rush is strong or there is a low-pressure system in the area.
Meanwhile, Works Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi said that the Public Works Department (JKR) under his ministry is working closely with Nadma to mitigate floods and check on soil movements during the northeast monsoon.
“We are now exploring a flood mitigation technology-based solution to do testing and demonstration on selected federal roads – one of the selected and approved areas for testing and demonstration for proof of concept is at FT189, Besut district, Kuala Terengganu.
“We have also upgraded the e-Disaster mobile app which is an integrated platform that provides access and convenience for users to check on the status of roads and affected locations, helping to plan trips more safely and efficiently especially during the northeast monsoon season,” he added.
Nanta also said that as of September, JKR has spent RM104.84mil on slope repair works at 147 locations along federal roads in Peninsular Malaysia.
“We provide technical advice to Nadma, together with machinery and technical services, in assessing damage to public infrastructure and implementing mitigation measures to reduce slope disaster risks,” he said.
He added that JKR has also expedited drainage and road blockage clearing works by the road maintenance concessionaires, as well as activated disaster operations rooms which use JKR assets.
