KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 23 — A woman was killed after a tree fell on her during a thunderstorm as the country continued to bear the brunt of the monsoon transition phase, with floods and evacuations reported in three states today.

Johor, Perak and Penang saw water levels rising and floods reported, forcing those affected to be evacuated into relief centres.

Heavy rain compounded by strong winds also caused flash floods in the Klang Valley, a pre-cursor to the onset of the North-eastern monsoon.

The Kuala Lumpur Operations Room Centre, when contacted, said a woman was killed when a tree fell on her while she was walking in front of Universiti Malaya’s main entrance.

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“Three cars were also damaged in the 5.31pm incident,” the centre said.

As at 4pm, a total of 1,014 victims from Johor, Perak and Penang have been evacuated to temporary shelters when their homes were inundated.

In JOHOR, the number of flood victims in two flood-hit districts increased to 596 involving 132 families as compared to 510 from 111 families in the morning.

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State Local Government, Urban and Environmental Welfare Committee chairman Tan Chen Choon said all the flood victims in Pontian and Johor Baru districts were being sheltered in six relief centres.

“They comprise people from five villages in Pontian namely Kampung Parit Basilam, Kampung Maju Jaya, Kampung Melayu Batu 30 Bukit Panjang, Kampung Seri Bunian and Kampung Jasa Sepakat as well as Kampung Ulu Pulai in Johor Bahru,” he said in a statement here.

Thirty people are at Madrasah Parit Basilam, Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Seri Bukit Panjang (98), Dewan Masjid Kampung Ulu Pulai (77), SK Parit Haji Adnan (75) and SK Sri Bunian (83) while in Gelang Patah, 233 victims are seeking shelter at SK Kampung Pulai.

In PERAK, the number of flood victims at two relief centres increased with an additional 75 victims from 17 families in Kerian district, bringing the total to 308 as compared to 299 this morning.

As at this evening the districts affected were Teluk Intan and Kerian.

In PENANG, with the favourable weather, the number of flood victims was reduced to 110 from 35 families this afternoon as compared to 143 from 38 families this morning.

“The victims from Seberang Perai Tengah are seeking shelter at the Kampung Manggis Tadika Kemas and Tok Suboh People’s Housing Project (PPR) Community Hall,” said State Welfare, Caring Society and Environment Committee chairman Phee Boon Poh.

In SARAWAK, SK RC Kubong in Limbang here was forced to shut down after the school compound was inundated with the water level at 0.91 metres following heavy rain this morning, thus affecting 142 students, 11 teachers and three administrative staff.

According to the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) forecast, the coastal areas of Kelantan, Terengganu, Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Melaka, interiors of Sabah, Labuan Federal Territory, Bintulu and Miri will experience thunderstorms in one or two places tomorrow.

Thunderstorms are expected to occur in the late afternoon in all Peninsula states and several parts of Sabah and Sarawak.

The northeast monsoon is expected to begin from tomorrow until March 2020 causing four to six episodes of heavy rainfall and if this continues for several days could result in floods at low-lying and flood prone areas.

MetMalaysia does not rule out the possibility that the floods will worsen if the heavy rainfall coincides with the high tide phenomenon. — Bernama