Malaysian and Thai authorities report a combined death toll of 12 from floods hitting the northern Malaysian provinces and the southern regions of Thailand, according to official data released on Saturday by both governments. The disaster has disrupted thousands of households and stretched relief responders as teams work to reach isolated communities and assess the damage across several provinces.
In Thailand, at least nine people have died as floods caused heavy damage across more than 554,000 homes, according to the Department for Disaster Prevention and Mitigation. Pattani and Songkhla provinces are the hardest hit, each reporting three fatalities, with more than 280,000 homes affected in total. The prime minister has urged disaster response agencies to deploy personnel and resources to assist those in need and to coordinate shelter, medical care, and essential supplies.
Meanwhile in Malaysia, at least three people have died and about 131,000 have been affected by floods across several northern peninsular states. The Malaysian state of Kelantan, which borders Thailand, is the most affected, accounting for over 62 percent of those affected in the country. The National Disaster Management Agency NADMA has confirmed three fatalities related to these floods, while the national Bernama agency adds a fourth death to be reflected in official tallies once updated.
The flooded zones, produced by heavy rains since Tuesday and expected to continue into mid next week, stretch across nine Malaysian states, up from six cited the previous day. NADMA warned in a Friday night statement that the situation could worsen in the coming days and the affected areas could widen as water levels rise and new flood plains come under pressure.
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Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has instructed the entire cabinet to focus on coordinating emergency response tasks. Deputy Prime Minister Zahid Hamidi, who chairs the emergency response committee, said during a Kelantan visit that the current floods may be more severe than those seen in 2014, the worst in recent memory, which displaced more than 300,000 people.