Wan Junaidi: Northern states may face second wave of weather changes

Northern states have been told to remain vigilant, in response to the possibility that a second wave of weather changes may occur during the current monsoon transition period.

Natural Resources and Environment Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar cited the Meteorological Department, which has predicted that a second wave of weather changes will occur before the monsoon transition period ends.

"The Meteorological Department said that the monsoon transition period will continue until early this month but today is already the 8th.

"I predict that the monsoon transition period will continue until the end of November because it's hard to predict our current weather conditions," he told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today.

However, Wan Junaidi insisted that the new wave of weather changes was only a possibility at this point.

"(But) northern states (such as) Perlis, Kedah and Penang must continue to be vigilant," he said.

Asked whether the second wave of weather changes would be worse than the first, Wan Junaidi pointed out how the Meteorological Department had already issued a warning about the second wave.

"Like what that has been mentioned by the deputy prime minister so I won't repeat this again.

"I'm confident that the deputy prime minister was briefed by the Meteorological Department on the possibility of a second wave, and there is a possibility that the (second wave) will not occur," he said.

The northwestern region of the Malaysian peninsula saw heavy rainfall on the night of Nov 4 and morning of Nov 5, triggering massive floods.

Penang, which saw its heaviest rainfall in recorded history, was the worst-hit state.

Meanwhile, Wan Junaidi said a colloquium to discuss the flooding problem will be held in January.

"We will call experts from universities, local experts from the Irrigation and Drainage Department as well as international experts to discuss how the country's flooding problem can be solved."

Wan Junaidi said this is especially since there is no one formula that fits all for the flooding problem occurring in the country.

"Penang needs its own formula, Kelantan and Terengganu maybe need its own formula. So we will study this in January," he said.

- Mkini