There's a significant underinsurance of flood risks in Malaysia

Photo: FAIHAN GHANI/The Star

FLOODING in Malaysia has displaced over 50,000 people according to the country’s disaster management agency and reports reveal that there is at least one fatality in every 10 missing people. The magnitude of the disaster is not determined by floodwaters alone but also by the pattern of vulnerability in which people live. The lives and livelihoods of poor people are hardest hit by flood disasters.

Arguably, of all disasters in Malaysia, floods are the most frequent and do the greatest damage annually. In 1996, floods brought by Tropical Storm Greg in Keningau, Sabah, claimed 241 lives, caused more than RM300mil in damaged infrastructure and property, and destroyed a few thousand homes. The December 2006 floods in Johor caused 18 deaths and RM1.5bil in damage. In 2008, floods occurred in Johor again, killing 28 people and causing an estimated RM65mil in damage.