KUALA LUMPUR: The amount of rainfall recorded at the Air Panas station in Segamat, Johor for the period beginning Feb 28 until yesterday (March 3) was 731 millimetres (mm) - the highest compared with the highest monthly rainfall records in December 1991 and December 2006.
The reading recorded in December 1991 was 621 mm a month while in December 2006 it was 599 mm.
Irrigation and Drainage Department (DID) director-general Datuk Ir Dr Md Nasir Md Noh said the reading was also higher than the average monthly rainfall for March in Johor at 195 mm.
“The high rainfall caused all districts in Johor to become flooded involving 105 locations as of yesterday while the depth of flooding for the affected areas ranged from one to three meters,“ he said in a statement here today.
Md Nasir also said the rainfall station at Bekok Dam registered a cumulative reading of 322 mm of rainfall in a period of 24 hours on Feb 28 and March 1.
“This high rainfall has caused water from the dams to be released from Feb 28 until now with the affected areas being Yong Peng Town, Ladang Chaah, Jalan Yong Peng – Segamat (near Kampung Ngamarto), Kampung Haji Kamisan and Sungai Temehil.
“The rainfall station at Sembrong Dam registered a cumulative rainfall reading of 260 mm in 24 hours from Feb 28 and March 1. The high rainfall had forced water to be released beginning March 1 until now involving the Tanjung Sembrong, Sri Gading and Sawah Sagil districts,” he said.
Meanwhile, Md Nasir said the Machap Dam rain station in Kluang registered a cumulative rainfall reading of 395 mm recorded on Feb 28 and March 2 forcing water to be released from March 1 involving Kampung Kolam Air and Kampung Sungai Linau in Simpang Renggam.
He said because of the continuous heavy rain at the water catchment area involving several dams in Johor, the DID decided to release water while following the standard operating procedure for the dams.
“Overflowing water from the dams through the spillway will take place when the water level at dams exceeds the highest level. The public is reminded to always be prepared and obey all instructions issued by the state or district flood operations control centre.
“At present, a total of 15 mobile pumps with a capacity of 10 cusecs are in operation in critical areas in Batu Pahat, Pontian and Tangkak. We also have another 10 mobile pumps with a capacity of 10 cusecs complete with generators ready to be sent to Johor as additional pumps,” he said.
He also said the use of mobile pumps is in addition to the existing drainage systems and pumps to speed up the outflow of floodwater to reduce flood depth.
Throughout the North-East Monsoon, the National Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (PRABN) will be on alert to provide forecasts and flood warnings to all related authorities.
The public can obtain information on flood warnings as well as river water and rainfall levels throughout Malaysia on the Public Infobanjir website, publicinfobanjir.water.gov.my and also by using the MyPublic Infobanjir mobile app which can be downloaded through the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. - Bernama
