Image

In The News

JOURNALS, PUBLICATIONS, INTERVIEWS AND TALKS

Are floods the new normal in Malaysia? Here are 10 tips to prepare for it



It’s eleven months since the terrible floods that we experienced in the Klang Valley – and it has been a year of severe weather events across the country. A quick scan around the planet shows that extraordinary weather seems to be universal – the “new normal”.  

  • Heatwaves in India, Pakistan, Europe, the USA, Russia, parts of East Asia. 
  • Drought in China, Europe, and the Americas, as well as in the Horn of Africa, with devastating humanitarian consequences. 
  • Wildfires burning around the planet. 
  • Devastating floods in Pakistan with the government calling for developed nations to pay for the damage, because it is a result of climate change - which they are not responsible for.   
  • Temperatures at the Poles significantly above normal with ice melting faster than ever – leading to slow but inexorable sea level rise.  

The scientists have been telling us for years that our current patterns of production, consumption, and waste are causing warming which will change weather patterns; 2022 clearly points to the fact that what has been predicted has now arrived. So, while we need to continue to make efforts to reduce our carbon emissions, to learn to live within planetary boundaries, we also need to prepare and adapt.  

At the leadership level it is encouraging to see that significant steps are underway.  

  • Preparations for this year’s flood season have been significantly enhanced with His Majesty Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the Prime Minister becoming personally involved and engaged.  
  • Proposals from the Ministry of Environment and Water that aim to put into place flood mitigation measures and urban drainage need to be funded.  
  • The Government has ensured senior level engagement of the country’s delegation to the Conference of the Parties of the UN’s Framework Convention on Climate Change in Egypt this month – a signal to us all that Malaysia must meet its commitments to cut emissions and engage in the global effort to transform our economies and our lives away from our heavy dependence on carbon.  

So, our leadership appears to be seized of the issue – which should provide us with a sense of security that at the policy and political levels there is an understanding of the existential nature of what we are facing and a growing sense of responsibility. Of course, the outcome of GE15 is going to be pivotal in knowing whether the new government will live up to the commitments that the country has made.  

Caroline Lucas, leader of the Green Party in the UK recently said that “there is an important message that all political leaders should be taking from the response to coronavirus, and that is that people are prepared to make hard choices for the common good”. Climate change presents us with similar hard choices, and we need to be ready to significantly change the way we live, travel, produce and consume. Our leaders – national, state, community and family – must lead us in this difficult transition and we need to be willing to follow. Connecting our lives to what is happening is not easy; after all, the impact of climate change is somewhat peripheral to our everyday way of living. But these interruptions cannot be ignored any longer – they will grow and become ever more invasive if we don’t accelerate our mitigation and adaptation measures.  

Apart from informing ourselves about what’s happening and thinking through our personal response, it’s important to be better prepared for this flood season. It may not be as bad as last year’s – or it may be worse – and so we should prepare for the worst and heave a sigh of relief if our actions were, in the end, not needed.  

Ten Tips to Prepare for Impending Floods 

  1. Visit  https://portalbencana.nadma.gov.my/ms/ where you can find useful flood related information and an interactive map on disasters.  
  1. Sign up for your community’s warning system so that you are kept informed should a flood either be predicted or occur. If there isn’t one raise with your community leaders that one should be created.  
  1. Purchase or renew a flood insurance policy. Homeowner’s insurance policies generally do not cover flooding. It can take up to 30 days for a policy to go into effect so the time to buy is well before a disaster.  
  1. Make a plan for your household, including your pets, so that you and your family know what to do, where to go, and what you will need to protect yourselves from flooding.  
  1. Learn and practice evacuation routes, shelter plans, and flash flood response.  
  1. Have a grab bag (s) ready.  
  1. Keep important documents in a waterproof container or move them to a safer place and create password-protected digital copies.  
  1. Protect your property. Move valuables to higher floors where possible.  
  1. Declutter drains and gutters regularly so that water doesn’t get trapped.  

The recent announcements of huge investments in mitigation measures, while important, must be accompanied by community led initiatives.  So – plan ahead but as you do so ask yourself why you’re having to plan for the worst – and what your response to this new normal is going to be: blind acceptance or recognition that change must start with each of us, enabled by some serious policy guidance from our (to be) elected politicians? 

 

Dr Jemilah Mahmood, a physician and experienced crisis leader, was appointed as the Executive Director of the Sunway Centre for Planetary Health at Sunway University, Malaysia in August 2021. She is the founder of MERCY Malaysia and has served in leadership roles internationally with the United Nations and Red Cross for the last decade.  

As published in The Star on 8 November 2022, at https://www.thestar.com.my/lifestyle/living/2022/11/08/preparing-for-the-new-normal-10-tips-to-get-ready-for-floods-in-malaysia

 

Image
Image
Image

Resources

Copyright © 2024 SUNWAY UNIVERSITY (200401015434 (653937-U)) (DU025(B)). Project by Dreamztech Web Design.