THOSE on the east coast have been warned to brace themselves for the worst floods in recent history.
A powerful combination of king tides and strong winds are expected to slam into Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang, which are still dealing with slowly receding floodwaters.
Communities in coastal areas and along river mouths have been warned to ready themselves for immediate grab-and-go evacuations, as the worst is expected to unfold tonight or tomorrow.
The high-alert notification follows not only the sustained rain in recent days, but is also in anticipation of tidal waves as high as 4.35m hitting the states.
This is expected to happen for two nights from yesterday.
Many in coastal areas in Terengganu last night caught a glimpse of the power that comes with waves that high.
About 10pm, a little under two hours after 2.9m waves hit, residential areas were inundated by floodwaters that rose rapidly to about 30cm high.
The last time floods of this magnitude occurred was some 20 years ago.
Other states hit by the floods include Sabah, Sarawak, Labuan and Perak.
The Meteorological Department has been less hopeful of a reprieve from the situation, saying the heavy rainfall would likely subside only in the middle of next month.
National Weather Centre senior meteorologist Dr Mohd Hisham Mohd Anip said in the past few days, these states experienced double the rainfall compared with last year.
Some 600mm of rain fell over Kelantan and Terengganu last year, compared with the 1,200mm for the same period this year. Kuantan recorded 1,000mm of rainfall, compared with 500mm last year.
The department said the unusually high tides and floods were caused by a combination of three elements: the new moon, surges of strong winds and the perigee, or the point when the moon is closest to the Earth and its gravitational force is at its strongest.
“With the moon close to Earth and the stronger gravitational pull, the consequential stronger pull on water causes high tides.
“The new moon and perigee normally occur separately, but now, they are occurring almost simultaneously,” he told the New Straits Times, adding that strong winds of 60kph over the South China Sea were exacerbating the situation.
Hisham said the three states should prepare for more torrential rains from Sunday.