SHAH ALAM- The awareness regarding the risk of flood in residential areas need to be enhanced to minimize the impacts of floods.
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) head of Geological Hazards Programme, Southeast Asia Disaster Prevention Research Initiative, Dr Lim Choun Sian said that when he was asked to comment on the tragedy of the massive floods that ‘drowned’ Taman Sri Muda in December 2021.
"We need to think of ways on how to reduce the flood impacts in the aspect of losses, fatality and the possibility of the flood to reoccur at the flood-risk areas,” Choun Sian said to Sinar Harian.
According to him, the flood tragedy in Taman Sri Muda occurred due to the locality being a low-lying area situated near the river.
"Innately, the area is historically proven to be exposed to flood as what happened in 1995. Even during normal hours, the water level of the river is just several meters below the riverbank level.
The geology experts said the unprecedented flood situation in Taman Sri Muda and the rural areas as well as the rise in sea level due to the high-tide phenomenon has caused the water from the upstream and the areas where the water could not flow into the sea contributed to the severity of the floods.
He explained that there are three types of floods that are frequent in Malaysia which are flash floods which usually occur in the city area due to inefficient drainage systems.
"The floods usually recede in several hours. Secondly, fluvial floods can occur in low-lying areas around the river and will recede in several hours or days.
"Thirdly, coastal flooding which occurs at the sea due to high tides and storm surge usually recedes after several hours or days,” she said.
The massive floods that do not only occur at the east coast as per usual as well as at the west coast division including the big cities have caused a question to rise, is there any possibility that Malaysia will drown in 10 years?
According to Choun Sian, the possibility will only be happening if the sea level shows a rising trend due to the impact of global warming and if we do not take any actions to reduce the floods by reducing the risk, mitigating and sustaining the environment.