KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 22 — More than 12,000 Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM) personnel are ready to be deployed in flood-prone areas following the start of the monsoon season.
JBPM director-general Datuk Seri Mohammad Hamdan Wahid said the preparation included areas that were hit by flash floods, mud floods and landslides.
He said about 1,000 assets are also ready to be mobilised to identified flood and natural disaster hotspots, based on information provided by agencies such as the Malaysian Meteorological Department.
“The information includes the rainfall distribution in several areas, the high tide phenomenon and the monsoon season,” he told Bernama.
Mohammad Hamdan said the preparation also involved 324 stations and 16 operations centres (PGO) nationwide.
On the recent floods in several villages and residential areas around Gunung Jerai, he said the incident was caused by unusual amount of rainfall in states such as Kedah, Perak, Penang and Selangor.
“JBPM is currently focusing on efforts to locate the victims who were swept away by floods in Kedah,” he said.
On August 18, several villages and residential areas around Gunung Jerai were hit by floods believed to have been caused by water surges from the waterfall areas at the foot of the mountain.
— Bernama
