PETALING JAYA: Residents of Kampung Jawa Yan said their concerns of flash floods in their village have been alleviated following the construction of a sabo dam at Gunung Jerai in Kedah.

Basyiratunnur, 23, who stays 2.4km from the dam with five family members, was one of many affected by the flash flood in 2021.

“My grandmother Saniah, 75, father Ahmad Nasir, 53, mother Farihah, 50, two younger siblings Busyra, 17, and Aisyah, seven, and I were in the house when the flash flood happened. It was a bad day for us.”

She said the flood happened in the late evening as it had been raining heavily since morning.

“At 3pm, I was in an online class and heard a loud and weird sound. When I looked outside, water had risen to the side of the house.

“My house is a bit elevated, so the water did not enter initially. However, the mud around the house was almost knee high.”

She said the water level reached the kitchen but thankfully, her family managed to move the furniture to a higher level.

“Alhamdulillah, the damage to my house was not much because my family and I managed to move the items in the kitchen area.”

She said they are relieved with the completion of the project as there has since been no more flooding in the area.

Siti Hajar, 26, who volunteered in a three day programme organised by the Ad Diniah Volunteer Organisation to help the flash flood victims, said there was a lot of damage due to the mud.

“Furniture, doors, electrical items, mattresses and gas stoves were damaged.”

She said the flash flood impact was terrible and several houses had thick mud covering the floors.

During the cleanup, she helped separate things that needed to be thrown away and washed soiled dishes.

She also prepared equipment to be used when cleaning the houses of residents.

Siti Hajar said many family members came to help the cleaning and debris clearing process.

Although locals are relieved with the completion of the two sabo dams in Titi Hayun and Merbok in the neighbouring Kuala Muda district, the memory of the disaster remains.

Basyirah and her family expressed gratitude at the completion of the project as it eases their anxiety every time it rains at the peak of Gunung Jerai.

She said since the completion of the sabo dam, she has not seen the river overflow during heavy rain.

The sabo dams are the first ever constructed in Malaysia and were built at a cost of RM22.8 million, following the water surge disaster in Gunung Jerai on Aug 18, 2021.

Six people were killed and over 2,000 houses and business premises were damaged in the incident, that was the worst tragedy recorded in Gunung Jerai.

GEORGE TOWN: Two main dams in Penang have seen a significant drop in raw water storage, with levels falling below 30% as of Monday.

Penang Water Supply Corporation chief executive officer Datuk K. Pathmanathan said the Air Itam Dam’s effective capacity was at 29.7%, equating to 641 million litres out of a total capacity of 2,159 million litres.

He also said the Teluk Bahang Dam’s effective capacity was at 26.4%, equating to 4,810 million litres out of a maximum capacity of 18,240 million litres.

He added that the rate of reduction in the Air Itam Dam capacity has decreased from an average of 0.82% or 17.61 million litres per day in July to 0.51% or 11 million litres per day in the first 12 days of August.

The Teluk Bahang Dam’s effective capacity, which is 8.45 times that of the Air Itam Dam, has also decreased at a slower rate, from 0.31% or 57.1 million litres per day in July to 0.27% or 48.33 million litres per day in August.

He said recent low rainfall has worsened conditions at the dams.

The Air Itam Dam water catchment areas received just 48mm of rain last month and 36mm in the first 12 days of this month while the Teluk Bahang Dam water catchment areas received 47mm of rain this month, decreasing from 84mm during the same period last year.

He said although the current rainfall is insufficient to increase the effective capacities, it does help to slow down the rate of decrease.

To meet water demand, the corporation releases an average of 22.16 million litres per day from the Air Itam Dam to areas such as Air Itam, Farlim and nearby regions.

In addition, 68.06 million litres per day are released from the Teluk Bahang Dam to supply water to Teluk Bahang, Batu Ferringhi, Tanjung Bungah and surrounding areas.

Pathmanathan urged residents in the state to conserve water to help sustain raw water reserves until the next rainy season, Bernama reported.

Commenting on cloud seeding, he said the Disaster Management Agency informed the corporation on Aug 9 that operations would only proceed following advice from the Malaysian Meteorological Department and subject to the availability of Air Force aircraft.

As of Aug 11, rainfall has not been sufficient to improve water storage levels at Penang dams. The Air Itam Dam effective capacity has decreased by 1.2% while the Teluk Bahang Dam effective capacity has fallen by 0.8%.

Kapasiti semasa takungan air di Empangan Timah Tasoh, Beseri berada sekitar 38.5 peratus dengan jangkaan mampu bertahan untuk tempoh tiga bulan sahaja sekiranya kemarau di negeri ini berterusan.

Bacaan Jabatan Pengairan dan Saliran (JPS) Perlis merekodkan paras air di empangan itu berada pada paras 26.90 meter (m) iaitu berada pada paras amaran setakat kelmarin.

Exco Pertanian, Perladangan dan Makanan negeri, Razali Saad berkata, kerajaan negeri mengambil maklum keresahan dialami seramai 1,221 petani berhubung masalah tanaman padi mereka yang rosak dan tidak menjadi pada waktu ini.

“Ini berlaku kepada terutamanya petani yang berada di luar kawasan pengairan Mada yang meliputi kawasan Titi Tinggi, Beseri, Paya dan Bintong.

“Hal ini disebabkan sumber air bagi tujuan pengairan pertanian di Empangan Timah Tasoh tidak dapat dibekalkan ke kawasan itu disebabkan penurunan paras air akibat cuaca kering sejak beberapa minggu lalu.

“Jika dilihat Empangan Timah Tasoh dengan keluasan 13.3 kilometer persegi dengan aras takungan biasa iaitu 29.1 meter mampu menampung takungan sehingga 40 juta meter kubik air,” katanya dalam kenyataan, semalam.

Katanya, daripada jumlah itu, sebanyak 33.3 juta meter kubik air sahaja dapat digunakan bagi tujuan domestik iaitu secara puratanya adalah 75,000 kubik meter sehari.

“Ini diikuti dengan 55 juta meter kubik setahun bagi pengairan kawasan pertanian seluas 3,075 hektar manakala selebihnya adalah takungan mati.

“Selain itu, empangan ini juga berfungsi untuk mengawal kejadian banjir pada musim hujan dan berdasarkan ‘trend’ taburan hujan yang rendah dan cuaca kering di kawasan sekitar empangan sejak beberapa minggu lalu,” katanya.

Katanya, berdasarkan ramalan Jabatan Meteorologi Malaysia negeri, hujan dijangka lebih kerap berlaku semasa musim peralihan Monsun Barat Daya kepada Monsun Timur Laut antara Ogos hingga September ini.

“Sehubungan itu, paras air di Empangan Timah Tasoh dijangka akan kembali normal sekiranya hujan lebih kerap dalam tempoh itu.

“Bagaimanapun, sekiranya ‘trend’ cuaca kering ini berpanjangan, kita (kerajaan negeri) bersedia dan akan mengambil tindakan sewajarnya dalam menangani situasi ini.

“Permohonan bagi operasi pembenihan awan sudah dikemukakan kepada Agensi Pengurusan Bencana Negara (Nadma) dan sedang menunggu kelulusan serta penyelarasan daripada pihak terbabit,” katanya.

Katanya, kerajaan negeri melalui Exco Hal Ehwal Agama akan mengadakan solat sunat Istisqa untuk memohon hujan di Empangan Timah Tasoh.

“Jika dilihat Empangan Timah Tasoh dengan keluasan 13.3 kilometer persegi dengan aras takungan biasa iaitu 29.1 meter mampu menampung takungan sehingga 40 juta meter kubik air”

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia mengalami peningkatan empat kali ganda kejadian gelombang haba sejak tahun 1960-an.

Menurut satu laporan media tempatan semalam, analisis Tabung Kanak-kanak Pertubuhan Bangsa-bangsa Bersatu (UNICEF) mendedahkan, negara kini mengalami purata lapan gelombang haba setiap tahun, dengan setiap gelombang berlangsung kira-kira lima hari.

Ini berbanding hanya dua gelombang haba setahun dengan tempoh sehingga empat hari pada tahun 1960-an.

Analisis kajian yang diterbitkan semalam itu turut menunjukkan peningkatan tahap keterukan gelombang haba dengan suhu naik daripada 35 darjah Celsius melebihi purata pada 1960-an kepada 69 darjah Celsius melebihi purata bagi 2020-an.

Bagaimanapun, analisis itu tidak menyatakan suhu purata tempatan pada tahun 1960-an dan 2020-an.

Menurut definisi UNICEF, keterukan gelombang haba merujuk kepada suhu yang melebihi purata 15 hari tempatan.

Analisis turut mencatatkan, musim panas dan kering di Malaysia kini bermula lebih awal, satu trend semakin teruk akibat kejadian El Nino dan mencerminkan kadar perubahan iklim yang pesat.

Ini menimbulkan risiko kepada kira-kira 750,000 kanak-kanak di Malaysia yang kini tinggal di kawasan yang mengalami dua kali ganda hari dengan suhu melebihi 35 darjah Celsius, berbanding 1960-an.

Analisis itu juga mendapati, secara global kira-kira 466 juta kanak-kanak atau satu dalam lima kanak-kanak yang tinggal di kawasan yang mengalami sekurang-kurangnya dua kali ganda bilangan hari sangat panas berbanding 60 tahun lalu.

Di 16 negara, kanak-kanak kini menghadapi tambahan hari sangat panas melebihi sebulan setiap tahun berbanding enam dekad lalu.

Risiko kesihatan serius

UNICEF berkata, Afrika Barat dan Afrika Tengah menghadapi pendedahan tertinggi, dengan 123 juta kanak-kanak mengalami sehingga 212 hari sangat panas setiap tahun.

Amerika Latin dan Caribbean juga menyaksikan peningkatan yang ketara.

Dalam konteks gelombang haba, kanak-kanak di 100 negara kini mengalami dua kali ganda gelombang haba berbanding 60 tahun yang lalu.

Dalam pada itu, UNICEF memberi amaran bahawa kepanasan melampau menimbulkan risiko kesihatan serius termasuk komplikasi kehamilan, kekurangan zat makanan kanak-kanak, penyakit berkaitan haba dan masalah kesihatan mental.

Ia juga memburukkan keadaan kesihatan sedia ada dan meningkatkan masalah penyakit berjangkit.

Justeru, UNICEF menyeru semua negara anggota Perjanjian Paris termasuk Malaysia untuk mengemukakan kemas kini pelan iklim nasional, yang akan memandu tindakan iklim dalam dekad akan datang.