Penang floods death toll climbs to three as senior citizen drowns in home

Floods as a result of the heaviest rainfall recorded in Penang's history claimed a total of three lives as of this afternoon.

Northeast district police chief Anuar Omar said two of the victims were from Jalan Perak and Jalan P Ramlee on the island, which are known to be flood-prone areas.

"One victim is a 75-year-old Indian Muslim male who drowned in his home. His body was retrieved by the Fire and Rescue Department and sent to the Hashim Yahya Mosque relocation centre," Anuar told reporters in Georgetown today.

"The other victim is a Chinese woman from the Jalan P Ramlee senior citizens' home, we are still awaiting more details about her.

"Her body was also retrieved by the Fire and Rescue Department and sent to the relocation centre at the Hashim Yahya Mosque," Anuar added.

State executive councillor Phee Boon Poh had also confirmed the death of a Bangladeshi male in Bagan Dalam, Seberang Perai last night.

"He died due to fallen trees, and we are awaiting more details about him," Phee told Malaysiakini.

Penang Water Supply Corporation chief executive officer Jaseni Maidinsa said Penang was experiencing a historic amount of rainfall.

"The Sept 15 flood had rainfall as much as 70mm. Last night's was 315mm, the highest in Penang's history," he said.

Penang was hit by flooding since yesterday evening as strong winds lashed across the island and mainland, uprooting trees, damaging roads and buildings and stranding vehicles. causing massive traffic jams.

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng had described the disaster as unprecedented and appealed to the federal government to deploy the military for assistance.

The Malaysian Meteorological Department had last night also issued a heavy rain warning with Penang and parts of Kedah receiving a "red" notice, warning that the situation will persist until today.

Parts of Perlis, Perak, Kelantan and Terengganu are also affected, but not as severely.

Typhoon Damrey made landfall in Vietnam yesterday, killing at least 19 people. The category 2 typhoon had since weakened to a tropical storm.

Concurrently, the Pacific Disaster Center and typhoon tracking portal cycloane.com reported the formation of a tropical disturbance over the Malaysian peninsula which is referred to as "invest 95W."

The tropical disturbance is unlikely to develop into a tropical storm but will cause erratic weather.