Schools closed by flooding in Malaysia

Schools closed by flooding in Malaysia

PEKAN, Malaysia (AP): Heavy flooding from monsoon rains kept more than 11,000 students out of classes on Monday as schools shut indefinitely in an eastern Malaysian state.

The closure meant an extended holiday break for students and teachers of some 45 schools, mostly near the worst-hit town of Pekan, in Pahang state, 450 kilometers east of Kuala Lumpur.

The death toll from the floods in Pahang climbed to four with the drowning on Sunday of a 17-year-old student who was fishing.

Rescuers continued their search for two men feared drowned in the village of Nensai, near Pekan, the Bernama news agency reported.

The La Nina weather phenomenon has intensified Malaysia's seasonal monsoon rains, which occur from November to February.

More than 2,500 residents from districts around Pahang state evacuated their homes Monday, joining some 2,200 other flood victims who fled on Sunday to relief centers at mosques, churches and community halls, the national news agency, Bernama, said.

Hastily packed suitcases and clothing littered the floor of a prison outside Pekan where 44 families had camped out since the weekend, sleeping on a gymnasium floor.

Many of the 260 people in the cramped gymnasium said their homes were devastated by the shoulder-high floods that they called the worst in years.

"All I could save was my important documents. Everything else was ruined," said Jabariah Binti Ludin, an accountant, who along with her infant and 70-year-old mother, was rescued from their village by soldiers in a boat.

Health Minister Chua Jui Meng urged rescuers in Pahang to evacuate women in advanced stages of pregnancy to hospitals or other safe places. Chua said 162 medical teams had been sent to Pahang. Flooding has cut power supplies in many areas, forcing 17 medical clinics to close.

State government health workers were barred from taking time off to help out at overburdened clinics, he said.

In low-lying villages near Pekan and the nearby coastal city of Kuantan, residents paddled through the submerged streets in small boats.

Many roads were accessible only by heavy vehicles. But water levels in some areas showed signs of improvement, dropping to 2 feet from weekend depths of nearly 2.4 meters.

In the Kelantan state, just north of Pahang, flood waters had receded and water levels in major rivers dropped below the alert mark.

Almost all schools in Kelantan reopened on Monday after having shut down for a day over the weekend. Students in the mostly Muslim state attend classes on Sunday.