373 flood hot spots in Kedah
28 Sep 2022 05:45pm
Image for illustrative purposes only - 123RF
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Kedah Civil Defence Force (APM) director Lt Col Awang Askandar Ampuan Yaacub said the force is ready to give more focus to Baling and Kulim districts as that these two districts are proned to floods during the transition phase of the monsoon in the past three years.
"We are preparing for the whole state, but based on the data from the last three years namely 2019, 2020 and 2021, we will focus more on Baling and Kulim areas.
"In total, there are 53 'hot spot' areas in the Baling district and 25 'hot spots' in Kulim that are expected to be affected by MTL this time," he told a press conference after inspecting the Kedah APM Preparedness Simulation Training for the 2022/2023 MTL at Sungai Merbok Jetty Complex, Titi Semeling near here today.
Meanwhile, Awang Askandar said 35 land assets and 53 water assets including equipment related to disaster management in water are in a state of readiness to be mobilised to face MTL this time.
"We have also tested in terms personnel deployment as well as individual and team skills, assets and even logistics and everything is ready.
"We are not freezing leave as the decision depends on the higher authority, but even if they are on leave (during a disaster), they can be called to duty at any time," he said.
He said the experience of dealing with geological disasters such as those that occurred in Gunung Jerai near Yan and in Kampung Iboi near Baling helped the force to improve planning in the team.
"APM will also hold meetings with 32 Community Civil Defence Emergency Response Teams (CDERT) and 32 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to coordinate movements and facilitate management before, during and after MTL.
"On behalf of APM, we are ready and we hope that the public can also make preparations and take precautions, avoid activities in risk areas during MTL and if ordered, should move immediately to facilitate both parties the residents and the rescuers," he said.
In the meantime, Awang Askandar said APM Kedah is also continuously monitoring the tide phenomenon in Kuala Kedah and Kota Kuala Muda.
"The water level yesterday was 2.8 metress high and tomorrow morning it is expected to reach 2.9 metres, some areas maybe flooded but it does not cause destruction of property or threaten the safety of the public.
"We will still send personnel to be on duty there to provide relief from a psychological point of view to the residents in addition to advising them to always be vigilant," he said.
Earlier, a total of 73 officers and members of the South Zone APM involving the districts of Kulim, Baling, Kuala Muda, Sik and Bandar Baharu were involved in the simulation exercise.
The simulation exercise aims to evaluate the preparedness of Kedah APM in terms of personnel strength, logistics and rescue team skills in handling assets in preparation for this MTL transition phase. - BERNAMA
