KUALA LUMPUR: The government should upgrade the country's flash flood forecasting and warning systems by taking a leaf from the Covid-19 Tracker used by the National Security Council.
Global Environment Centre River Care Programme Manager Dr Kalithasan Kailasam said the effective dissemination of Covid-19 cases, clusters and vaccination updates should be modelled into the flood warning systems.
The existing National Flood Forecasting and Warning Programme, he said, lacked such quick and effective means to communicate and disseminate information.
"Our flood warning systems should include an integrated information chain to convey updates on water levels, the possibility of floods, accessibility risks, road conditions and slope stability to the people.
"Effective early warning systems will enable communities to take effective action when warned.
"The early warning systems, in the Philippines, for example, are designed to warn residents in densely populated areas on possible storm surges, floods or landslides, up to 48 hours in advance.
"India, Nepal and Afghanistan have implemented community-based flood early warning systems to provide real-time flood warnings to vulnerable communities living downstream.
"The Meteorological Department and Department of Irrigation and Drainage should set a prediction model that allows for spatial planning to reduce the exposure of flash flood-prone areas and limit potential flood damage," he told the New Straits Times.
Since community empowerment was vital to expedite disaster responses, Kalithasan said, local communities, religious institutions, and students, among others, should be trained and equipped with community-based flood rescue plans.
He said the rainfall in Kuala Lumpur last Saturday surpassed its one-month average level.
"The densely populated Shah Alam and Klang areas experienced a similar increase in rainfall intensity last weekend.
"This rare phenomenon was due to monsoon flow factors and a low-pressure weather system that resulted in a tropical depression in the South China Sea on Dec 12," he said.
The flash floods in the Klang Valley, he said, stemmed from unsustainable development, poor management of drainage systems and human activities.
"Most of the Klang Valley comprised permeable paving surfaces and straightened rivers. This causes high and fast runoffs and reduced water retention time.
"Another reason is the lack of flood retention ponds and a reduction in the carrying capacity of our rivers and drains caused by garbage dumping, plantation activities and sedimentation from land clearing and development."
Association of Water and Energy Research Malaysia president, S. Piarapakaran, said flood mitigation measures must be developed through detailed studies and modelling using past and present data.
"Measures for worst-case scenarios must be developed by taking into account design safety factors and a variable that controls climate change." By Dhesegaan Bala Krishnan