Lessons from the great floods

Inundated: An aerial view of a flooded area near Pengkalan Chepa. Climate change means both heavy rainfall and dry spells can occur within the same year.

The recent floods should be treated as a 'new normal' linked to regular weather extremes, and a system should be established to curb the causes and effectively managed disasters.

THE first half month of 2015 saw Malaysians pre-occupied with the big clean-up following the big floods that swamped many states, especially in the east coast.