Floods: Parts of Hospital Sultanah Aminah in JB cordoned off

JOHOR BARU: Several parts of Hospital Sultanah Aminah that were affected by flash floods have been cordoned off.

According to Johor Health and Unity Committee chairman Ling Tian Soon, a heavy downpour that lasted a few hours on Tuesday (Aug 2) led to flash floods in several parts of the city, and the hospital was not spared.

“Facilities at the hospital’s outpatient department on the ground floor, including toilets, were flooded and the hospital has since cordoned off the area.

“A clean-up will be carried out before the public is allowed to use the facilities again.

“The hospital car park was also flooded and several cars that could not leave in time stalled and had to be towed,” he said after visiting the hospital with its director Dr Mokhtar Pungut @ Ahmad.

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The downpour, which started around noon, caused flash floods in several areas including Jalan Yahya Awal, Jalan Ayer Molek and Jalan Wong Ah Fook in the downtown area, as well as Jalan Persiaran Abu Bakar Sultan fronting Lido Beach.

Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi said as an immediate response, the Irrigation and Drainage Department would pump water out of the hospital area.

He said the department would also improve the pumping system to cope with a larger volume of water in future.

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“I understand that about 100mm of rain was recorded in the extraordinary rainfall compared to the usual 20mm.

“High tides reaching 1.15m were also recorded. As such, the rainwater could not flow into the sea,” he said.

He added that he had instructed public works, transportation and infrastructure committee chairman Mohamad Fazli Mohamad Salleh and the Johor Baru City Council to find a solution to prevent such incidents from occurring in future.