GEORGE TOWN, Nov 20 — The total rainfall recorded in Penang September this year is almost three times more than the total rainfall recorded in September of 1995, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng asserted today.
He refuted a statement by Meteorological Department director-general Alui Bahari that the highest rainfall recorded in Penang was in 1995 by furnishing figures comparing rainfall recorded in September 1995 and this year.
“The total rainfall recorded in September this year is 1,162mm as opposed to 482mm in September 1995,” he said in a press conference at his office today.
Lim was using figures furnished by the Penang Water Supply Corporation for rainfall recorded at the Teluk Bahang dam.
“This shows that the meteorological department can’t be trusted, they can’t even get their facts right,” he said.
Lim has been criticising the department for its alleged inaccurate weather forecasts and late warning for the storm that hit Penang on November 4 and 5.
He had attributed the massive floods that followed the storm to the high rainfall recorded that day.
The Penang government claimed the state experienced the highest rainfall in history at 372mm on November 5.
Alui reportedly refuted Lim’s claims by insisting that the highest rainfall recorded in Penang history was during the floods in September 1995.
