Putrajaya mobilises immediate aid as Selangor struggles with major floods

Floods have wreaked havoc in the Klang Valley, especially in Selangor where the situation was described as unprecedented with many areas submerged in water, rendering major roads impassable and forcing the evacuation of many victims to relief centres (PPS).

Continuous rain which at times turned heavy over the past two days in the Klang Valley caught many unprepared, leaving them trapped at home by flood waters or in their stranded cars along flooded roads.

Public postings on social media showed flooded roads and settlements in Selangor, including in Shah Alam and Port Klang, with cries for help by those trapped by the flood waters.

Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari has sought help from the federal government to tackle the floods and extend aid to victims in the state, the worst hit this time around.

Search-and-rescue authorities and people in low-lying areas in at least six states are bracing for the worst in the face of unrelenting rain.

Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, in a special press conference last night, said preparations to face floods were normally made in states like Kelantan, Pahang and Terengganu, but that Selangor was caught unprepared.

“I have also read on social media, some also send directly to me asking for assistance while some are sick.

“Some people informed me they were trapped in a bus for eight hours, and I have alerted the fire and rescue department to the location, while many other vehicles are also trapped so we have to save the weak,” said Ismail.

Forty-five PPS were opened with 3,826 victims from 2,551 families sheltered in Selangor, and 453 vehicle and logistics assets of various enforcement agencies were mobilised involving 2,817 personnel, he added.

The prime minister assured flood victims of their safety, saying this is the top priority of the government apart from ensuring that enough food is provided to victims especially around the Klang Valley.

As of yesterday evening, several toll plazas had been closed including the Shah Alam toll plaza and the intersection slip road with only the exit open at the Subang and Seafield toll plazas for those heading south and north.

Checks on social media also found that landslides had occurred at several locations, including KM 62.9 of the Karak-Bentong Highway, the road from Saujana Utama to Elmina (near the Guthrie Corridor Expressway), the road heading to Bukit Lanjan, Damansara as well as Jalan Taman Melawati 1.

Meanwhile, the number of evacuees continued to rise in other flood-hit states such as Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Melaka and Kelantan.

Tenaga Nasional announced in a Facebook post that electricity supply has been disrupted in 82 areas in Klang, Shah Alam (57), Port Klang (six), Sepang (three) and Banting (two), and had yet to be restored.

Electricity supply was also disrupted in 20 areas in Pahang including Kuantan, Bentong, Jerantut and Kuala Lipis; eight locations in Melaka; and seven in Kelantan including the districts of Kuala Krai, Jeli and Gua Musang.

As a precautionary measure to prevent Covid-19 infections, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said in a statement that symptomatic, at-risk, or Covid-19 positive evacuees would be isolated in quarantine centres.

He said prior to being allowed into relief centres, evacuees would be screened to confirm whether they had Covid-19 symptoms or risk factors, while positive cases would be isolated at Covid-19 quarantine and low-risk treatment centres, special centres or referred to hospitals according to their requirements.

As of 11pm, 188 relief centres had been opened to house 11,384 evacuees from 4,500 families in six states hit by floods following heavy downpours since the day before.