(MENAFN- The Peninsula) The worst flooding in Malaysia in more than a decade has killed 10 people and forced nearly 160,000 from their homes and more rain is expected, authorities said yesterday.
Among the casualties, five were in the worst-hit state of Kelantan, in northeastern peninsular Malaysia. Over the border in southern Thailand, 14 people have been killed in the floods that began in mid-December.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak toured some of the worst-hit areas this weekend, following his return from a vacation in Hawaii on Friday.
Prime Minister announced an additional 500m ringgit ($143m) after touring parts of Kelantan state, which along with northeastern Terengganu and Pahang regions has been worst hit by the deluge.
Najib was criticised for his absence during the calamity, after being photographed playing golf with President Barack Obama.
Northeastern Malaysia and southern Thailand are regularly hit by flooding during the annual northeast monsoon but this year the rain has been particularly heavy.
The Malaysian government said rain in Kelantan and southern Thailand would last for at least another week. An official in the southern Thai border town of Sungai Kolok said it would take up to two days for water levels to drop and for the border to be reopened.
Weather forecasters yesterdaywarned that much of Malaysia will see more storms in the next three days.
"We expect another surge in heavy rain followed by strong winds brought by the seasonal northeast monsoon, which usually continues till March," a meteorological department official
"It is going to take time for the flood waters to subside."
"The country is in desperate need of more helicopters," deputy transport minister Aziz Kaprawi said, as rescue agencies warned that shortages of fuel and clean water were hampering search efforts.
The worst flooding in 30 years has devastated much of northern Malaysia, with some 8,000 people thought to have been left stranded across the impoverished Kelantan state, where 17 areas have been cut off by the rising waters.
From the air, state capital Kota Bharu appeared like a vast, muddy lake and left largely without power. Locals said many people had turned to looting because of a lack of fresh food and water supplies.
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