IPOH, Oct 26 — A total of 869 Perak Civil Defence Force (APM) personnel are on the alert to deal with floods following the Northeast Monsoon (MTL) season that is forecast to occur from mid-November until March 2024.
Perak APM deputy director Lt-Col (PA) Mohammad Azwani Kusnin said all personnel have been placed in 12 districts, involving 171 identified flood hotspots.
“To facilitate the operations, a total of 41 types of land vehicles, such as lorries, four-wheel drives, ambulances and vans, as well as 56 marine vehicles can be mobilised at any time if needed.
“From an operational perspective, we are not only taking action to rescue the affected victims and move them to temporary evacuation centres, but also to monitor the rise in river water levels,” he said when contacted by Bernama today.
Earlier, APM Management Training Division director Col (PA) Fazlisyah Muslim said in a statement that over 13,000 personnel are ready to be deployed within 24 hours nationwide to tackle the flood situation.
He also said that the number would be increased according to needs, apart from the involvement of trained volunteers, including the APM Civil Defence Auxiliary (CDA) team.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Azwani said that, so far, they are monitoring the districts of Kerian and Hilir Perak since these are the two flood-prone areas whenever the MTL season comes around.
“There are 17 hotspots in Kerian and 11 in Hilir Perak where we are carrying out special monitoring because, based on the findings we received, the highest number of affected victims comes from these two districts.
“However, in other high-risk areas, periodic monitoring is still carried out depending on the situation at that time, whether it requires an increase in personnel or not,” he said.
He also urged those in areas that are frequently hit by floods to be wary and get assistance from the agencies involved to ensure safety measures are taken right from the start.
“I ask that those in areas that are frequently inundated not to panic, be careful and, most importantly, save their personal documents, especially their identity cards, to ensure a smooth process of evacuation,” he said.
