Heed evacuation orders during monsoon, Johor Bomba urges
JOHOR BARU: Residents living near rivers in Johor should take precautions and evacuate promptly when instructed by the authorities during the north-east monsoon season.
Johor Fire and Rescue Department assistant director of operations Tarmizi Md Jaafar warned that combined high tides and continuous heavy rainfall significantly elevate flood risks.
“Residents, especially those living near rivers, need to start preparing early. If there is prolonged heavy rain and high tide occurs at the same time, flooding can happen,” he said when contacted yesterday.
Expressing concern over community vigilance, Muhammad Tarmizi highlighted that numerous residents hesitate to leave flood-prone houses as waters rise.
“We have observed that awareness among the public about flood dangers is still low. Some residents choose to remain in their homes and refuse to evacuate.
“Only when the water reaches a dangerous level do they start seeking help to get out of their homes,” he said.
Tarmizi also reminded residents to adhere to instructions from the authorities, particularly when they were told to evacuate to temporary relief centres (PPS).
He said 399 flood hotspots had been identified throughout Johor, requiring close monitoring during the monsoon season.
He said all fire stations in the state had been instructed to conduct patrols at identified flood-prone locations whenever heavy rain persisted for over two hours.
“This is part of our early preparations to monitor the situation and ensure that we are ready to respond,” he said.
He said all four fire and rescue zones and 34 fire stations in Johor were directed to carry out operational logistics inspections and equipment testing on Oct 31.
The exercise covered inspections of rescue boats and marine equipment, testing of vehicles and flood-response utility equipment, and checks on supporting equipment such as chainsaws and personal protective equipment.
“These preparations are important to ensure that all our assets and equipment are functioning properly and ready to be deployed for rescue operations during the monsoon,” he added.
