by Professor Dato Dr. Ahmad Ibrahim,
Many may not realize that another new normal is emerging. The world’s poor response to climate change is partly to blame. Global warming has fueled a new dynamic in natural disasters. They have not only become more regular but also more devastating. We have witnessed how typhoons and hurricanes have ripped through communities around the world extolling massive damage to properties and loss of lives. Climate change has altered the profile of natural calamities. We just saw how a tornado destroyed some population centers in the USA. In the Philippines, the population must endure regular encounters with menacing typhoons. Germany recently came face to face with what has been dubbed as the worst flood of the century. No country is spared literally. Some have more natural calamities to deal with.
We can consider ourselves comparatively fortunate. For us, the most challenging climate disaster we face is linked to heavy rain. Flash floods are common in cities. The more devastating floods occur during the monsoon months around December and January. I still remember the big floods in 1967 in Kelantan. There was no NADMA then. There were no temporary shelters like the PPS. Everyone was left to manage the best they could. During that flood, me and my family had to move to higher ground twice as flood waters continued rising. Eventually we settled with a family whom we did not even know. My grandfather stayed put at his house where flood waters rose to the roof level. He survived for three days squatting just below the roof. There were some people who were stranded along the Kota Bharu Road. A few climbed up telecommunication poles to stay clear of the fast-flowing flood waters. There was no supply of food by the government then. There were no NGOs either. The family we put up with fed us with what they had. Of course, there were also stranded chickens and birds which we occasionally caught and shared in our meals. The radio was the main channel of communication then. That was how we obtained information about weather development. Every day we waited for the good news that the rain would soon stop, and we could all go home.
All countries around the world experience flood. Even developed economies have their share. When there is more rain than usual and the drainage system fails to cope, flood is the inevitable outcome. There is yet no technology that can stop heavy rain. Climate change is making it worse. One way to deal with the unusually heavy downpour is to divert the floodwater to some storage ponds. The KL smart tunnel is doing just that. It has been reported that without the smart tunnel, Kuala Lumpur could have even sunk in the current flood. Of course, all the pumps must work. This is where maintenance is crucial. There were cases at other sites in the current flood where pumps built to divert the floodwater did not work because of poor maintenance. Social media was flooded with complaints about that.
Since there is no way we can stop floods, what countries have done to minimize damage to assets and casualties to people is to send an early warning. Nowadays with all the sophistication of satellite imagery and AI, as well as reliable weather forecasting models, creating an early warning system is technically feasible. For states on the East coast which experience such monsoon floods on a yearly basis, the flood has become part of their lives. In fact, as a child, we looked forward to the annual flood festival. But Selangor, which rarely experiences such bad floods, not only needs early warning but the people must also be guided on what to do. But most important of all, the relevant authorities must be prepared with the necessary support. With climate change not showing any sign of abating, dealing with climate disasters such as floods will be another new normal.
One lesson from the flood is the rubbish generated. Dealing with the disposal of such rubbish is a big logistic headache. Hopefully, this will also send the message among the people that proper management of the rubbish that we generate is something we should pay attention to. Indiscriminately throwing rubbish is one practice we should put a stop to. It is clear we need a more comprehensive policy on flood management. We must create clear mapping of areas that are naturally prone to floods and prohibit any housing development. We need to introduce a flood safety certification scheme of housing projects. This way we can warn buyers not to invest in those housing. We need a system to effectively monitor the state of river siltation and drain blockage. It is worth considering investing in the sophisticated satellite imagery to do that job. With all the economic losses that we have seen, and the lives lost, it is time for a more comprehensive policy on flood management in the country.
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