Disease hits as Malaysian floods displace 90,000
Pastor Dale Morgan
Sunday January 14, 3:31 PM
*
Disease hits as Malaysian floods displace 90,000*
A second wave of flooding in Malaysia's south has forced more than
90,000 people to flee their homes and caused two deaths from water-borne
disease, officials and reports have said.
The number of people evacuated in Johor state, which borders Singapore,
has soared to 92,511, the state Bernama news agency said. This is higher
than for the first round of flooding, which hit last month and left 18 dead.
Torrential rains that have battered the region for the past four days
show no sign of letting up, and some 355 relief centres have been set up
on higher ground to shelter the huge number of displaced people.
Health ministry secretary-general Ismail Merican said flood victims now
faced the risk of disease, particularly leptospirosis, which is spread
through rat, dog and cattle urine.
The New Straits Times quoted Abdul Ghani Othman, Johor's chief minister,
as saying that two flood evacuees had already died of leptospirosis.
"In flood situations things get out of control, especially when it comes
to water cleanliness," Ismail told AFP.
To avert a health crisis, the government was mobilising teams from
across the country to establish medical units at all the relief centres,
he said.
"We are ready to offer not only medical aid but anything else that we
can do to help the victims and alleviate their suffering."
Thousands of people were already sheltering in flood evacuation centres
in Johor after the first round of flooding, which hit late December and
forced 90,000 to evacuate their homes at the peak of the crisis.
Since then, rains have hit the country's north and its eastern states on
Borneo island.
Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said late Friday that the
government had not ruled out declaring a state of emergency in Johor if
the floods worsened, and that the government would closely monitor and
evaluate the situation.
"The government has prepared an operation manual that is to be activated
in the event of a natural disaster. This is a plan that has been worked
out and is often used," he said, according to Bernama.