Electronics center hit by floods

Electronics center hit by floods

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuter): Work at Malaysia's biggest electronics manufacturing center in Penang came to a near standstill yesterday after heavy floods kept thousands of workers at home, officials said.

Continuous rain over the weekend covered parts of Penang with water up to three meters deep, forcing the closure of many schools, government and businesses, the officials said.

The northern island, filled with computer-related factories of companies such as Hewlett-Packard, Intel and Texas Instruments, is dubbed Malaysia's "Silicon Valley" for its likeness to the Californian original.

The national Bernama news agency said 800 people had been evacuated and factories were being manned by skeletal staff.

Telephone lines were reported to be out of order and traffic jammed in many places. No casualties were reported.