With torrential rain pouring down and water coursing around our car, we could only listen helplessly to cries for help from neighbours, many trapped in homes with no power, water or food. - NSTP/ MOHAMAD SHAHRIL BADRI SAALI
With torrential rain pouring down and water coursing around our car, we could only listen helplessly to cries for help from neighbours, many trapped in homes with no power, water or food. - NSTP/ MOHAMAD SHAHRIL BADRI SAALI

I WAS serving the United Nations University (UNU) in Tokyo in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans — perhaps the most devastating storm in the United States on record, causing an estimated US$108 billion in property damage and 1,200 fatalities.

It was also the year UNU called for recognition of those displaced by gradual environmental change — the so-called climate refugees. In those days, I always assumed such catastrophes would only occur in faraway lands.

That was until last Dec 18, when disaster struck my family and me when prolonged torrential rain caused flooding in eight states across the country, particularly in Selangor and Pahang.

A couple of years ago I relocated to my hometown, Bentong, where I plan to spend my retirement. Sadly, the town was a flood epicentre.

On that fateful Saturday night, the water started to rise rapidly. We made it to higher ground and spent the night in the car as our path of escape was cut off by the raging floodwaters.

With torrential rain pouring down and water coursing around our car, we could only listen helplessly to cries for help from neighbours, many trapped in homes with no power, water or food.

Some, with small children, were stranded on their rooftops waiting up to 10 hours for help from the gallant civilian rescuers and volunteer first responders.

As dawn broke, we went back to the house to assess the damage. At the storm's height, water had reached the first-floor ceiling.

Almost all my memorabilia amassed over a lifetime of work vanished, along with my family members' many similarly precious belongings.

It is no exaggeration to say the street scene was like that of a tsunami's aftermath. Cars strewn or piled on top of one another, entire houses swept away, whole rows of popular food warong, where locals enjoyed delightful breakfasts, wiped out.

Early estimates suggest that the flood inflicted about RM1.4 billion in infrastructure damage and a potential RM20 billion in economic losses.

At least 125,000 people were displaced, and 54 lives lost — one of the deadliest natural catastrophes since 1971.

After three weeks of work, our house was livable again. But, it was heart breaking to think how much we and everyone else affected had lost in property and livestock.

According to Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia climatologist Professor Fredolin Tangang, floods in Malaysia have become more numerous in the last 20 years, with losses amounting to RM8 billion.

Studies of Kuala Lumpur show thunderstorm and rainfall intensity has increased 30 per cent in the past 30 years, with frequent flooding.

Scientists and many observers link climate change to the extreme weather on Dec 18, the disastrous effects exacerbated by landslides on hill slopes denuded of trees and complicated by the loss of biodiversity.

Water and Environment Ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri Dr Zaini Ujang said the storm had dropped an average month's worth of rainfall in a little over 24 hours — a "once in a hundred years" event.

The direct cause was a low-pressure system formed in the South China Sea that reached the level of a tropical depression.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob admitted weaknesses in response coordination and promised improvement but managing disasters is a responsibility shared by state and district level authorities too.

Environmentalist Professor Dr Hafizan Juahir of Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin underlined that community members need more than physical tools to help respond to floods. They need greater skills training too.

What we just experienced has parallels with Hurricane Katrina, which exposed a series of deep-rooted problems, including controversies over the federal government's response, difficulties in search-and rescue efforts, and lack of preparedness.

Ten years after Katrina, then president Barack Obama said: "What started out as a natural disaster became a man-made disaster — a failure of government to look out for its own citizens."

If we take no other lessons from Malaysia's flood disaster last month, let us take a whole society /whole government approach to the efficient and speedy manner in which current and future flood victims are cared for.

And, let us now accord even greater respect to Nature, and proactively restore and safeguard the defences against such disasters that she once provided to us.

The writer is a member of the Board of Trustees of ALAM and ambassador and science adviser to the Campaign for Nature. He is a member of the Prime Minister's Climate Change Action Council