It's shaping up to be a wet new year for Malaysia as downpours and intermittent showers around the country are expected to persist until the end of the year, causing floods particularly in the east coast states.
The Malaysian Meteorological Department has issued a heavy rain warning for Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan on its Facebook page. Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Putrajaya will experience isolated rain until the new year mostly in the afternoon and evening.
Heavy rains since Sunday have already caused floods in Kemaman, Terengganu where a new mother was forced to wade through a waist-high flood with her newborn in the wee hours of the morning.
Suhaili Saharuddin, 21, had just given birth to her daughter, Nur Sofia Mohd Rizal, 15 days ago.
She had to evacuate her home for the relief shelter at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Badrul Alam Shah, Kemasik after water entered her house at 3am on Monday morning.
“I carried my newborn baby through the flood waters. Only God knows how I felt at the time in the darkness, but I had to be strong for my baby’s safety," she says adding that her husband carried their other child, who is three years old.
Suhaila, who resides in Paka, had just returned to the family home to spend her confinement period with family.
She shared that she was comforted by the facilities provided at the relief centre.
“Thankfully, I have been given a tent, a mattress and a mat, as well as food suitable for a woman in confinement.
“This morning, a health officer came and took my baby to the clinic for a check-up and treatment as my baby has jaundice,” she added.
The floods have been attributed to the narrow drainage system which does not let the water flow through quickly enough.
Kemaman district officer Rosman Roslan says that all security agencies and the Social Welfare Department are on standby. They are ready to face major floods and to evacuate people in vulnerable areas.
Updates on the weather conditions are available on MetMalaysia’s website at www.met.gov.my, myCuaca mobile application, Facebook malaysiamet, Twitter@malaysianmet or MetMalaysia Hotline 1-300-22-1638.