KUALA LUMPUR – The current flood situations especially in the East Coast states of the peninsula and Johor are not expected to be as bad as the floods which had hit the states previously.
Malaysian Meteorological Department director-general Jailan Simon said the department only expected normal floods like those that happened every year.
“This means that floods occur as usual, we do not expect them to be as big as those in 2014 or 2013 in Kemaman (Terengganu), as well as in Johor. We do not expect floods as big as in 2006 and 2007.
“The floods this year are more or less normal, only a little bigger in Pahang,” he told a press conference at the National Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre here today.
Jailan said the department still maintained alert weather warnings in Kelantan and Terengganu, but the warning has been terminated for Johor and Pahang.
“It means we do not expect heavy rain for the next few days,” he said.
However, he said the northeast monsoon, which caused floods in several states in Peninsular Malaysia, was expected to end in the middle or the third week of this month.
“We actually expect the northeast monsoon to only end in the middle or the third week of March.
However, for the peninsula, the monsoon period usually ends in the middle or the third week of January,” he said.
Jailan said the department also expected weather conditions to improve in Johor and Pahang within the week, while Kelantan and Terengganu are predicted to still experience rain in the mornings and evenings.
“However, the possibility of (floods) in Johor and Pahang is still high because it is still early January.
“But after that, we have to watch out in Sabah and Sarawak because they will go through the rainy or flood season between January and February,” he said.
The national flood disaster reportedly also affected four other states, namely Perak, Terengganu, Kelantan, and Selangor. – Bernama, January 5, 2021
