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KUALA LUMPUR – The Environment and Water Ministry has implemented a flood disaster risk assessment system based on climate change projections made through flood hazard mapping and flood risk mapping initiatives.
Its minister, Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, said the Irrigation and Drainage Department (DID) had developed a system covering 36 major river basins nationwide.
“For the Klang Valley area, a flood hazard map for six river basins has been developed while a flood risk map involving the Sg Bernam basin has also been developed,” he said during Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat today.
He was replying to a question from Datuk Mohd Nizar Zakaria (Parit-BN), who asked about the government’s study on the possibility of drastic climate change causing natural disasters to happen more frequently as well as the level of preparedness of the national disaster warning system.
Tuan Ibrahim said DID and the Meteorological Dept (MetMalaysia) are always expediting, maintaining and improving the early warning system’s level of readiness under their supervision.
He said MetMalaysia’s eight new radar systems for Perak, Kelantan, Terengganu, Sabah, and Sarawak under the 11th and 12th Malaysia Plans are expected to be fully completed this year, to add to the 11 existing radar systems.
“Besides that, DID also implements a flood forecast and warning programme that aims to provide early warning to agencies related to disaster management and the public.
“Sirens will be sounded when the water level exceeds a certain threshold value to give early warning to locals, with flood forecasts as early as seven days and warnings as early as two days provided to locations expected to face flooding,” he said.
He said the system is currently operating in the Sg Pahang, Kelantan, and Terengganu basins with an accuracy of 65% while the warning system under the National Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre for other states nationwide is being upgraded. – Bernama, March 10, 2022