The death toll from floods has risen to seven, and nearly 27,000 people have been evacuated to relief centres as monsoon rains continue to pound the country, reports said Wednesday.

The state news agency Bernama said the latest victim was a 74-year-old man whose body was discovered late Tuesday in the worst-hit state of Johor, where 13,945 flood victims were sheltering in 80 relief centres.

A meteorological department official told AFP that the downpour is expected to continue, particularly in Johor which lies on peninsular Malaysia's southern tip.

Evacuations in the east coast states of Kelantan, Terengganu and Kelantan rose to 12,957 from 8,011 on Tuesday, Bernama said.

In Kelantan, state authorities said seven rivers had risen above danger levels and two others had reached the warning stage. There were similar alerts in Terengganu, where three rivers swelled to dangerous levels.

Bernama said that sections of the East Coast Expressway, a major national highway, had been closed to traffic along with a number of roads leading into flood-stricken cities.

Last December, major floods in Johor left more than 110,000 people displaced in a disaster that caused at least RM1.5 billion in damages.