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Flood aid helicopter crash-lands, four survive
Published:  Dec 31, 2014 9:28 AM
Updated: Jan 1, 2015 5:57 AM

LIVE BLOG FLOODS Malaysiakini brings the latest updates on the flood situation as they happen.

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Latest developments

  • Najib shocked by severity of flood, pledges to make flood mitigation priority in 11th Malaysia Plan

 

  • Number of evacuees down by 57,000 at 8.15pm, compared to this morning, including in worst-hit Kelantan.
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  • Telecommunications restored in Pahang
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  • Police rescue helicopter crash-lands in Tanah Merah, all aboard survive
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  • Looters, rumour-mongers nabbed in Kelantan
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    Teen among 108 nabbed for looting, spreading hoaxes

    10.57pm: A total 108 people, including a 14-year-old, are in police custody over cases of theft and disseminting false information on floods in Kelantan.

    Police say looting happened in Kota Bharu, Bachok, Pasir Puteh, Pasir Mas, Tanah Merah, Gua Musang, and Kuala Krai, Bernama reports.

    "The theft cases are reported to have occurred at night and noon on Dec 26 to Dec 28 when the flood waters were at a high level," he said.

    Meanwhile, 529 tonnes of essential goods collected at the Royal Malaysian Air Force base in Subang have been sent to flood-affected states, Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein says.

    Public can also donate to collection centres at the Tambun, Perak, Alor Setar, Kedah, and Batu Berendam, Malacca, military bases, he says.

    He also urges more volunteers to aid the relief effort, especially after the floods recede.

    "If the Armed Forces has mobilised 5,000 personnel, I hope the number of volunteers will be 10 times more," Bernama quotes him as saying.

    9.00pm: Flood victims can replace their Malaysian Road Transport Department (JPJ) documents for free, Bernama reports.

    JPJ director-general Ismail Ahmad says the fee omission applies to replacement of road tax, driving licenses and vehicle registration cards.

    Even more evacuees return home

    8.30pm: The number of flood evacuees is down to 123,804 people from 146,070 at 6pm reports the National Security Council (MKN).

    The number of those displaced in Kelantan is reduced by over 21,000 people while those affected in Pahang increases by 253 people.

    There is also steady decrease in the victim numbers Terengganu and Perak, a check by Malaysiakini at 8.15pm confirms.

    The condition in Johor, however, remains unchanged.

    Kelantan – 59,915 (-21,543)

    Pahang - 46,438 (+253)

    Terengganu – 10,377 (-798)

    Perak – 6,936 (-178)

    Johor - 138 (unchanged)

    Total: 123,804

    Aid helicopter crash-lands, four survive

    8.10pm : Four survive when their helicopter crash-landed at the Kursial residential area in Tanah Merah, while delivering food supplies to flood victims at 6.30pm.

    "I can confirm that a police helicopter was involved in an accident in Kampung Rambai, Tanah Merah.

    " Alhamdulillah , two pilots and two crew members are safe," Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar tweets.

    All four - three men and a woman - are treated at Hospital Tanah Merah.

    Najib shocked by severity of floods

    7.40pm: Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak in his New Year’s Eve message says the floods plaguing the east coast was expected but is shocked by the severity.

    “We are used to floods in Malaysia. But I was shocked by how bad the situation became.

    “The scale of the destruction was profound, with so many people going through intense personal suffering,” he says.

    He says the priority now is to get supplies and assistance to those who are displaced or stranded and financial support for people to rebuild their lives.

    “Next year, our priority is recovery: to rebuild the infrastructure, the businesses and the homes that were damaged or lost.

    “We must ensure that the development we pursue is environmentally friendly, so that we are not making future floods more likely - or more damaging,” he says.

    Telco services back up in Pahang

    7.20pm: The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) says that all telecommunication services in Pahang have been restored since evening, reports Bernama .

    7pm: The Public Works Department (JKR) tweets on its official account that all roads to Jengka from Kuala Lumpur have been cut off.

    Husam: Right time for Petronas to pay back 'debts'

    6pm: PAS vice-president Husam Musa tells Petronas to contribute RM3 billion to a special fund to rebuild flood-ravaged Kelantan.

    He says this as he claims that Petronas has benefitted financially from their oil platforms in the state waters.  

    “This is the right time for Petronas to pay back the ‘debts’ they owe the people of Kelantan,” Husam says in a statement today.

    Kelantan improves, Pahang worsens

    6pm: The National Security Council (MKN) reports that the number of evacuated victims has dropped to 146,070 from 147,809 people as at noon.

    A check by Malaysiakini at 5.40pm found the number of displaced in Kelantan has reduced by some 14,000 people.

    However, the number of evacuees in Pahang has escalated by over 15,000 people currently.

    There is also a steady decrease in the number of victims in Terengganu, Perak and Johor.

    Kelantan - 81,458 (-14,801)

    Pahang - 46,185 (+15,106)

    Terengganu – 11,175 (-1,842)

    Perak - 7,114 (-159)

    Johor - 138 (-43)

    Total: 146,070

    A third of Kelantan without running water

    4.11pm: More than a third of Kelantanese households are still not getting clean water as several water treatment plants have been suspended due to the massive flooding.

    “A total of 91,100 consumers’ accounts out of a total of 223,300 accounts in Kelantan are still not getting piped water supply,” says the National Water Services Commission (Span).

    This is because 16 of 32 water treatment plants in the state are still not operational. However, it says this is an improvement from the 24 that were not functioning a few days ago.

    It adds that some Tenaga Nasional Berhad’s power stations that have gone out of service due to the floods are not helping, but the power company is providing generators to keep the water treatment plants going.

    In Pahang, it says 37,600 consumers’ account out of 378,800 are still not getting water supply from taps.

    3.50pm: The deadline for businesses to register for the goods and services tax (GST) has been extended till Jan 31 2015 for Terengganu, Kelantan and Pahang, says Customs Department chief director Khazali Ahmad.

    However, he says that the deadline for the other states remains today and those who fail to register face consequences, reports Bernama

    Water levels drop by 60cm in Temerloh

    3.20pm: Temerloh MP Nasarudin Hassan tweets that the flood situation there is improving, with water levels dropping by 60cm in two days.

    Bernama reports from an aerial view, that the floods in Kemaman, Terengganu are seen to be receding as well.

    Earlier today, the number of evacuees reduced by over 30,000 from all over the country.

    2.45pm: Kelantan police arrested 99 individuals caught looting three supermarkets while it was flooded between Dec 26 and Dec 28, The Star reports today.

    The suspects are remanded for a week and are investigated under Section 451 of the Penal Code for breaking and entering with intention to steal, police chief Mazlan Lazim says.

    He warns would-be looters that police are safeguarding business and private properties.

    2pm: Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak says flood mitigation project will be a priority in the 11th Malaysia Plan.

    Najib is in Kemaman, Terengganu today to visit victims affected by the floods there, Bernama reports.

    More than 30,000 evacuees leave shelters

    1pm: The National Security Council reports that the total number of displaced flood victims around the country has decreased by more than 30,000 from 180,757 at 8am to 147,809 people currently.

    A check by Malaysiakini at 1pm found that number of evacuees in Kelantan and Pahang dropped by a couple of thousands.

    There is also improvement in Perak with the number of those displaced reducing, but the number in Terengganu remains the same. However, there is a slight increase in victims evacuated in Johor.

    Kelantan - 96,259 (-14,488)

    Pahang - 31,079 (-18,127)

    Terengganu - 13,017 (unchanged)

    Perak - 7,273 (-342)

    Johor - 181 (+9)

    Total: 147,809

    10.05am: Umno has set up a command centre at its party headquarters, mobilising 100,000 squad members to clean up the aftermath of the floods, according to Agenda Daily today.

    Umno Wanita, led by its deputy secretary Rosni Sohar, will helm the centre from 9am to midnight daily, where aid can be sent to the fourth level of Menara Dato Onn.

    The public may call the centre hotline at 03-40429511 or 03-40482788.

    Prime Minister and Umno chief Najib Abdul Razak announced the matter late yesterday.

    Number of flood evacuees reduces

    9.55am: According to the National Security Council (MKN), the latest figures show a drop in the number of flood evacuees - from 230,000 to 181,000.

    Kelantan - 110,747

    Pahang - 49,206

    Terengganu - 13,017

    Perak - 7,615

    Johor - 172

    Total: 180,757

    9.30am: DAP's party organ Roketkini reports that Perak DAP chief Nga Kor Ming has donated his entire MP salary for the month of December to the party's flood relief fund.

    Nga is the MP for Taiping. Perak DAP has also collected an additional RM10,000 for the flood relief funds.

    9.20am: The Leburaya Pantai Timur (LPT) highway at Lanchang and Chenor (Km124 and Km126) is still closed due to floods around Temerloh, Pahang, highway authorities confirmed on its official Twitter page.

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