KLUANG, March 3 — Johor, especially in the eastern and southern areas, is set to experience unusually heavy rainfall following the transition from monsoon season to hot weather until the end of this month.
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Campus Sustainability (UTMCS) director Assoc Prof Mohd Fadhil Md Din said Johor is currently, for example, recording an average of 200 millimetres (mm) of rainfall, way more than 100mm on normal days.
“Now we are entering the monsoon transition period. We expected it to rain from March to April and April to May to be hot due to the El Nino phenomenon.
“The monsoon season transition this year has caused drastic weather changes, thus resulting in us getting more rainfall,” he said when contacted today.
Mohd Fadhil said that, as such, related agencies including local authorities needed to intensify efforts and proactive measures to reduce the impact of flood risks, such as cleaning drains and ditches as well as preparing contingency plans for flood-prone areas like deepening main rivers or flood mitigation.
“If we look at the floods in the rural areas like in Chaah, Segamat, most of the houses were inundated because they were situated near rivers.
“Rivers that have become shallow, especially due to development, must be deepened again to accommodate heavy rainfall besides ensuring the drainage system functions properly,” he said.
As of 4pm today, a total of 32,870 flood victims in Johor are still placed at 219 temporary relief centres.
— Bernama
