By DPA
Kuala Lumpur : More than 20,000 people have been forced to evacuate their homes due to rising water in several Malaysian states as the nationwide death toll climbed to 12, media reports said Thursday.
The southern Johor state was worst-hit with some 13,000 evacuees, while the central state of Pahang recorded more than 10,000 people who have been forced to flee their homes for temporary relief shelters, the New Straits Times daily said.
Other states affected by the yearly floods include the eastern states of Terengganu and Kelantan.
Government relief agencies have been instructed to rush food and essential supplies to the evacuees as water levels continued to rise, complicating rescue and relief efforts.
“Our focus is on how to get aid to the flood victims,” Domestic Trade Minister Mohamad Shafie Apdal was quoted as saying by the official Bernama agency.
The death toll climbed Wednesday to 12 with two more people missing, said search and rescue officials.
The annual year-end monsoons bring heavy rainfall, which typically sparks flooding in all of Malaysia’s coastal states, forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate their homes.
The meteorological department has warned that heavy rains and strong winds will continue until early next week.