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At least 13 people died and tens of thousands evacuated in one of the worst floods in decades to batter southern Thailand and northern Malaysia.
The floods have impacted nearly 534,000 households in Thailand, with the death toll climbing to nine from four reported on Friday and leaving thousands in 200 temporary shelters that have been set up in affected areas.
The Chana district of Songkhla province suffered the worst floods in 50 years, with video showing people being carried out to trucks from their homes inundated by a torrent of flood water. Another video footage showed rescuers in Sateng Nok District of Yala province carrying a baby out from the roof of a home hit by the floods on Saturday.
In Malaysia, at least 122,000 people have been forced out of their homes as floods in several northern states worsened over the weekend. The death toll climbed to four in the most affected parts of Kelantan, Terengganu and Sarawak.
The Kelantan state accounted for 63 per cent of all the evacuaions, according to the National Disaster Management Agency.
“My area has been flooded since Wednesday. The water has already reached my house corridor and is just two inches away from coming inside,” Pasir Puteh resident and school janitor Zamrah Majid, 59, told AFP.
“Luckily, I moved my two cars to a higher ground before the water level rose.”
Thailand’s Metereological Department warned several areas in the south can expect more heavy rain and more flash floods in affected areas.
Malaysia’s deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said last week that floods this year were expected to the worse than 2014, when more than 250,000 people were displaced and 21 killed.
Nearly 83,000 personnel and thousands of rescue boats, four-wheel vehicles and life jackets as well as 31 helicopters are ready, he said.
Floods are common in parts of Malaysia during the annual monsoon season, which starts in November and could last until March. The Met Department said the country can expect between five and seven episodes of heavy rainfall during this period.
