FLOOD IN JOHOR

More than 100,000 people fled Malaysia's flood-devastated south on Monday as the second massive deluge to hit the country in weeks pushed the government closer to declaring a state of emergency, officials said.


Massive flooding forced more than 100,000 people from their homes in southern Malaysia.
(CBC) No casualties have been reported so far in Johor state, where the fresh wave of floods surged less than a month after Malaysia saw its worst in a century kill at least 17 people in late December.

Many of the evacuees had been Malaysians returning home from dry shelters they had sought during the December disaster.

Torrential rains that began on Friday and lasted almost 72 hours caused major rivers to burst their banks and flow into towns in the southern state of Johor. In some places, flood water levels had reached a height of four metres, and one town was completely submerged, with only rooftops of homes and gas stations showing, the New Straits Times said.

One hospital in Kota Tinggi, the hardest-hit area, had to relocate all its patients to another hospital. Meanwhile, overcrowded relief centres in Kota Tinggi had to close their doors to evacuees after reaching their maximum capacity, an official at the Johor state flood operations centre told the Associated Press. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

110,000 flood victims in relief centres
"We need donations of food. Some [relief] centres have no more space already. Blankets and warm clothing are also needed," the official said, adding there were currently about 110,000 flood victims in more than 300 relief centres in Johor.

Johor has yet to declare a state of emergency, but a condition for imposing one is "if the number [of evacuees] exceeds 100,000, or the water level at dams reaches the 'crash' level," the New Straits Times said, quoting the director in charge of disaster management Che Moin Umar.

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi estimated losses at more than 100 million ringgit, or $33.3 million.

Malaysia's Meteorological Service has forecast heavy rain for the next few days and health officials are on alert for the spread of diseases from contaminated flood water.