KAMPUNG SEMENTEH, Malaysia, Jan 6, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Malaysian villagers
were evacuated in an excavator while others swam through deep waters
Wednesday as the number forced from their homes by floods rose to more than
28,000 with at least four dead.
Flooding hits the country’s east coast during the rainy season annually and
regularly results in mass evacuations, but people in some areas say this
year’s are the worst in decades.
The worst-hit state is Pahang, where over 21,000 have been evacuated in
recent days, with almost 4,000 forced from their homes in Johor and thousands
more in other states, according to the social welfare department.
Four deaths have so far been reported in Pahang and Johor.
On Wednesday a group villagers was evacuated from the small settlement of
Kampung Sementeh in Pahang, which has been cut off by the floods, in an
excavator, an AFP journalist at the scene said.
A pregnant woman and a sick elderly lady were among a handful of residents
sitting in the raised shovel of the machine as it drove along a flooded road,
while others hung off the cab.
Residents of another cut-off village swam through floodwaters about six
feet (1.8 metres) deep as they sought to obtain supplies of fresh water and
food.
“It has been raining for three days, food is running low, some shops are
closed,” factory worker Juzaili Mat Zain, 44, who helped organise the
excavator evacuation from Kampung Sementeh, told AFP.
“There are no government boats or heavy trucks to help.”
Electricity had been cut off in the village and some houses were inundated,
he added.
Resident Ahmad Saad Mohamad, 48, said it was the area’s worst floods for
four decades.
“We are disappointed and angry,” he told AFP. “It has been three days and
there has been no government aid.”
This year’s floods come against the backdrop of a worsening coronavirus
outbreak, with some fearful they could be exposed to Covid-19 in crowded
relief centres.
The government insists it has taken steps to prevent the virus spreading,
including ordering officials to screen evacuated villagers.