Flooding in Kemaman, a district of the state of Terengganu in eastern Malaysia. Recent flooding in the region has displaced over 100,000. Photo by Mohd Fahmi Mohd Azmi/CC/Flickr
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- Assessment and recovery efforts are underway in Malaysia after devastating monsoon rains caused massive flooding across the northeastern part of the country.
"They (residents) consider the disaster not as a flood phenomenon," Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said Tuesday after visiting Kelantan, one of eight states most affected by the flooding, "but a major catastrophe because the water level rose so high and rapidly to the extent that many houses were submerged."
Entire villages were submerged, hundreds of thousands displaced and 10 killed in the late December rains. Although monsoons occur annually, this year's rains were considered unusually heavy between Dec. 23 and Dec. 27.
The prime minister promised federal government help to flood victims in the Gua Musang and Kuala Krai distrcits, including evaluations of destroyed and damaged properties, construction of temporary homes for those whose homes were destroyed, and permanent homes built for Kuala Krai residents in areas less vulnerable to flooding.
Meanwhile, the National Security Council responded to public criticism about the government's slow response. In a statement issued Tuesday, the NSC said there was a "complete collapse" within the district-level disaster management teams, including a communications systems failure.
NSC Secretary Datuk Mohamed Thajudeen Abdul Wahab on Monday described the disaster management challenges.
"In the districts, the frontliners of our disaster management machinery include the village headman and district officers. But due to the magnitude of the floods, most districts were completely inundated. Our entire district machinery collapsed as they had become victims themselves.
"At this point electricity supply had to be cut to ensure victims do not get electrocuted. This made communications even more challenging, with downed lines handphones with drained batteries and no power.
"For us to know where help was needed and how bad each district was hit became the biggest problem."
With the heaviest rains subsiding, air and ground aid delivery was getting "slightly better," he noted.
The Meteorological Department expected intermittent rain to continue until Wednesday.
