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KUALA LUMPUR - Southern Malaysia has been hit by the heaviest rains in 100 years this week and resultant flooding has forced about 30,000 people to flee their homes, news reports said on Wednesday.
The floods have cut off main roads and disrupted train services in the southern state of Johor, the worst-hit state which is also a major rubber and palm oil producing region.
"More than 28,000 people have been evacuated," Johor chief minister Abdul Ghani Othman was quoted as saying by the online edition of the Star newspaper. "We expect the number of evacuees to increase."
So far, there are no reports of casualties.
The floods came after two days of incessant rains, the highest rainfall ever recorded by the state in 100 years, the weather bureau said.
Annual rainfall in total was usually about 240 centimetres, but in just one day on Monday, the state received 35 cm of rain, it said.
There was no immediate word on the impact on crops in the state, but palm oil prices rose slightly on fears of supply disruption. Malaysia is the world's top palm oil producer and exporter.
Malaysia's national news agency Bernama said the floods have spread to the neighbouring states of Negeri Sembilan and Malacca, forcing some 2600 people to be evacuated.
- REUTERS
