Number of evacuees rises to over 18,000 in Malaysia floods

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov. 25 (Xinhua): The number of evacuees rose to over 18,000 in Malaysia on Tuesday, with 10 states affected across the country due to the current northeast monsoon season, according to authorities.

Kelantan, which has seen continuous heavy rains over several days, recorded over 9,700 flood evacuees who were being housed in 40 flood relief centers as of 12 p.m. local time.

Other badly affected areas include Selangor state, with 2,718 evacuees, and Perak state, with 2,881, with the remainder spread across the country.

 Meanwhile, Chief Secretary to the Government Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar said the government has deployed more than 100,000 personnel and assets from multiple agencies to states affected by severe flooding during the monsoon.

Deputy Education Minister Wong Kah Woh said national-level examinations would proceed, as the authorities have contingency measures in place to deal with the situation, including a complete set of standard operating procedures and mechanisms to ensure candidates can sit for the examination safely.

Separately, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim told a press briefing that he is satisfied with the National Disaster Management Agency's level of preparedness in responding to the flood situation and has instructed all agencies to mobilize maximum efforts to assist affected communities.

The meteorological department has issued warnings of continuous heavy rains and strong winds.  (RSS)