The flood woes in Kelantan

– Johan James
The Malaysian Insider
28 December 2014

Almost every year, Kelantan and a few other east coast states are flooded due to the heavy monsoon rain towards the end of the year. But this time around, Kelantan and the other east coast states were hit by major floods since year 2004.

Is this a never ending curse for these states, especially Kelantan? Who are supposed to be blamed for this annual mishap suffered by the Kelantanese? Central government? State government? Or the wrongdoings of the locals in Kelantan?

Amid, flood in this state is just another annual affair for the locals except for the heavy flood that occurred several times – 1926, 1967, 2004 and the latest, 2014. In other words, it’s part and parcel of the Kelantanese’s life.

However, the current flood incident and its severity had defied all traditional beliefs. Does the heavy flood, caused by heavy monsoon rain and other factors, still relevant in this modern age with all the technological advancements?

As much as 255 mm (10 inches) of rain fell in 24 hours between December 21 and 22 in the east coast states, according to the Malaysian Meteorological Department. It had further worsened the flood in the states.

On December 23, the Malaysian Meteorological Department issued a high level warning of heavy rain in parts of peninsular Malaysia (source: floodlist.com). Adding to that, the high tide phenomena – which is influenced by the moon were also identified as one of the major contributors for the heavy flood.

This is known as the ‘new moon phenomena’, where the close proximity of the moon from earth results in high tide. This high tide will usually cause the sea level to rise tremendously and eventually hampers the dissipation of flood.

The following are the main factors of the aforementioned phenomena, contributing to heavy flooding :

a. The close proximity of the moon from Perigee

b. The moon in close proximity with the new moon-phase which is in parallel with the sun

c. The occurrence of Perigean spring tide

d. The strong wind from the northeast e. Heavy downpour in the remote areas in the east coast states (Source: falakonline.net)

Apart from the east coasts in Peninsular Malaysia – southern provinces in Thailand, a few islands in Indonesia and five provinces in Sri Lanka were also badly affected.

Although the flood is not something unusual in southeast Asia, the central and state government’s role in solving this ever continuing mishap cannot be discounted at all.

It is also a core responsibility of the state government which is helmed by the opposition for over 20 years. Therefore, the state government has no choice but to take serious measures to overcome the flood woes in the state as soon as possible.

The state government should look into the geographical factors, drainage system and the uncontrolled deforestation in the state in order to overcome the flood woes once and for all. The political differences between the central and state government have to be scrapped and they should work as a team to identify the glitches in all these factors.

The blame game between these two sides has to stop immediately for a flood-free state to materialise. Scant oil royalty should not become the main excuse for the state government’s failure to solve the flood woes. – December 28, 2014.