Hard-pressed Malaysian emergency services, reinforced by civilian volunteers, on Sunday rescued 21,000 people displaced by flooding from torrential rain in seven states, officials and volunteers said, Trend reports citing Reuters.
More than 66,000 police, army and fire department personnel were mobilised to help pluck people from vehicles marooned in flood waters or from inundated streets outside their homes. read more
State news agency Bernama reported that a total of 21,000 people had been evacuated nationwide to relief centres.
As rescue operations continued, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob earlier told reporters in Selangor, Malaysia's wealthiest and most populous state and one of the hardest hit, that 15,000 people there had been evacuated to more than 100 relief centres.
He said rainfall over the past day was equivalent to the total for a month in normal conditions.