ALOR STAR: The recent floods that ravaged seven districts in Kedah were caused by unusually heavy rainfall that exceeded the annual average.
Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor said the flood patterns that hit the state last week differed from the September disaster.
"The recent floods were caused by exceptionally heavy rainfall, which exceeded twice the annual average, increasing from 175mm to over 300mm.
"This situation led to water accumulation and overflow, resulting in floods.
"The pattern is also different compared to the floods in September, where certain districts such as Pendang that typically experienced prolonged stagnant floods, were unaffected this time," he said in a press conference after chairing the state executive council meeting at Wisma Darul Aman today.
Seven districts, namely, Padang Terap, Sik, Kubang Pasu, Pokok Sena, Kota Setar, Baling and Kuala Muda were devastated by the floods that hit last Thursday following continuous heavy rainfall.
Sanusi and his family were also forced to evacuate the Menteri Besar official residence Seri Mentaloon after Sungai Anak Bukit overflowed.
Based on data gathered by the Disaster Operations Control Centre (PKOB), 11,046 people from 3,575 households were evacuated to temporary flood relief centres (PPS) across the affected districts during the recent floods, he said.
"However, the number is expected to be higher if we take into account flood victims who did not register at the PPS.
"We're still waiting for the final figures," he said.
Meanwhile, Sanusi said the state government is developing a new mechanism for distributing cash aid to heads of households (HoH) affected by floods.
He said this after the state government detected fraudulent claims among flood evacuees involving married couples who registered at different PPS to claim the RM1,000 allocated to each HoH for the September floods.
"The wife registers at one (PPS), the husband at another.
"District officers have informed me of several such incidents.
"Even during floods, people take advantage.
"That's not a good practice.
"I think this time we need to scrutinise the matter.
"We don't want a single HoH to receive multiple payments through cunning means," he said.
The state government had distributed 'Bantuan Komuniti Sejahtera' (BKS) of RM1,000 to each HoH who relocated to PPS during the September floods.
Sanusi said the state government is also mulling extending assistance to families who did not relocate to PPS due to certain circumstances, such as overcrowding at centres or cases where families were evacuated for safety reasons due to impassable roads.
"This is a new scenario we're facing during this round of flooding in Kedah," he said.
Sanusi said several criteria would be established, including requiring flood victims to file a police report and obtain verification from the Village Chief Council (MKK) and the local village head before aid could be distributed through the PKOB at each district.