Heavy rains in north-east Malaysia force 20,000 to relief shelters
PUBLISHED ONDecember 25, 2014 8:00 PM
Torrential rains continued to wreak havoc in the north-eastern part of the Malaysian peninsula.
Kelantan suffered what has been dubbed the worst flooding in the past decade.
The situation took a turn for the worse again yesterday after easing off slightly on Monday, New Straits Times reported.
More than 20,000 people have been affected and are reported to be at relief shelters across eight districts.
Water levels of major rivers except Sungai Golok were on the rise following rain over the past 12 hours.
Other states such as Terengganu were also severely affected by the floods.
In Kuala Terengganu, residents were evacuated following high tide waters that flooded the islet at the Sungai Terengganu estuary. Residents were seen rushing to higher ground.
Meanwhile, residents on the east coast have been warned to stay away from coastal areas and river mouths as high tide is expected to be at its worse over the next two days, reports said.
National Weather Centre senior meteorologist Dr Mohd Hisham Mohd Anip told New Straits Times that the high tide would be at its maximum strength during these two days.
A flash flood in Kajang turned Christmas cheer into a dastardly nightmare when the sudden overflow of Sungai Kantan caused water to gush into a dog shelter, drowning some animals and injuring staff and volunteers.
Malaysia Independent Animal Rescue president Puspa Rani told The Star that water up to 2m high gushed into the dog shelter where a Christmas party was being held, sending volunteers scurrying to save as many animals as they could.
She said: "All of us were looking for the dogs in the flood waters. We didn't want to abandon them."
It is not known how many dogs and puppies drowned. The shelter reportedly houses around 100 dogs.
Ms Puspa said one of the volunteers suffered an electric shock. She hailed him as the hero of the shelter.
"Raj could have been killed. He put his life on the line and is a hero to us." she said.
The water currents were so strong that she had to cling onto a tree branch until Mr Raj was able to swim to her and help her to safety, she added.
This article was first published on Dec 24, 2014.
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