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Malaysia

Malaysian Flood Emergency Response - Donor Report 2014

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1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Malaysia Climate

Malaysia is geographically located in South East Asia, consisting of Peninsular Malaysia that shares land and maritime borders with Thailand and Singapore, while East Malaysia shares land and maritime borders with Brunei, Indonesia and Philippines. Peninsular Malaysia is covered in forested mountain ranges running from north to south, with on either side low-lying coastal plains. East Malaysia is situated on the island of Borneo, divided between coastal regions, hills, valleys and a mountainous interior.

The regions equatorial climate is characterised by uniform temperatures, high humidity and copious rainfall throughout the year. Although winds in Malaysia are generally light, the country faces two monsoon seasons. The first ‘lighter’ monsoon season is from May to September, known as the Southwest Monsoon. On the other hand, the Northwest Monsoon from November to March brings heavier rainfall and winds. The east coast of Peninsular Malaysia is exposed to the Northwest Monsoon, highly vulnerable to flooding and landslides as a natural result.

1.2 Malaysian Flood Background

Malaysia has a long history of floods as the country is exposed to monsoon rainfall all year round. More than about 10% of the country is flood-prone. Rapid urbanization of floodplains such as those in Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Sarawak, and upstream development of hill land have rendered many areas vulnerable to hazardous flash floods.

In 1971, Kuala Lumpur was hit by major flash floods as several riverbanks broke due to heavy monsoon rains. Over 180,000 people were displaced with 32 fatalities. The recent century has seen several heavy flash floods occur in Shah Alam, Johor, Kelantan, Perlis, Pahang and Terengganu. The last recorded major flash flood was in 2007, when several states in Peninsular Malaysia were submerged under the Northwest Monsoon rains.

1.3 December 2014 Floods

Peninsular Malaysia suffered from one of the worst floods in recent history during the last two weeks of 2014. A record number of 232,913 evacuees were registered in various evacuation centers across Peninsular Malaysia (as of 29 December 2014). However, the actual number of those affected is believed to be higher as numerous people were unable to reach evacuation centers and several evacuation centers were unregistered. The worst hit states were Kelantan, Pahang and Terengganu, followed by Perak and Johor.

As of 29th December 2014, Kelantan recorded 160,000 registered evacuees, followed by Pahang with 33,225, Terengganu with 31,820, Perak with 7,540 and Johor with 328 evacuees.

To date, MERCY Malaysia has responded to the flood in several areas Kelantan (Pasir Mas, Tanah Merah and Rantau Panjang) and Terengganu (Kemaman and Hulu Terengganu), as well as in Bota, Perak. The first phase of response was the deployment of needs assessment teams to Pasir Mas in Kelantan, Hulu Terengganu and Kemaman in Terengganu and Bota in Perak respectively as situations became critical. These teams, consisting of MERCY Malaysia staff, medical volunteers and logisticians, conducted rapid needs assessments of the situation in order to identify emergency response assistance. Information gathered from the needs assessments and coordination meetings with several parteners; Majlis Keselamatan Negara (MKN), Jabatan Pertahanan Awam Malaysia (JPAM), Ibu Pejabat Polis Kontingen (IPK), Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat and the District Health Office, indicated that the most critical needs were food, water, shelter, hygiene supplies and medical assistance.

There are 3 categories beneficiaries affected by the flood this year:

  1. Flood affected evacuees who are staying at gazetted evacuation centres
  2. Flood affected evacuees who are staying at non gazetted locations
  3. Those not affected by the flood but whose homes are cut-off by the flood

In response, MERCY Malaysia in coordination with the above mentioned partners provided food aid, distributed hygiene kits and carried out several Primary Mobile Health Clinics simultaneously in the districts of Kelantan, Terengganu and Perak. Around four hundred MERCY Malaysia volunteers, partners and donors took part in the flood operations.