7,792 personnel, 226 rescue boats on standby for floods in Kelantan

KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 7,792 personnel, 226 rescue boats and 316 various types of land vehicles are on standby in Kelantan for the 2025/2026 Northeast Monsoon to ensure that rescue and flood evacuation operations can be carried out as required.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) had also allocated RM300,000 in operational funds to the Kelantan State Disaster Management Committee to prepare for the monsoon season.

He said Nadma had also provided two complete sets of Incident Command Post (PKTK) tents, in addition to allocating RM330,000 to the state committee to procure 22 rescue boats with engines and life jackets to strengthen operational capacity in high-risk areas.

"For the management of flood victims at temporary relief centres, Nadma has also sent 10,792 collapsible cubicle tents and 9,000 food kits, while 20,500 retort food packs will be distributed for use throughout Kelantan when required," he said in a parliamentary written reply today.

He was replying to a question from Zahari Kechik (PN-Jeli) on Nadma's preparedness for floods in Kelantan, particularly in settlements along high-risk rivers and areas that could be cut off by floodwaters.

Zahid, who is also National Disaster Management Committee chairman, said priority was given to positioning critical assets and supplies in high-risk areas to ensure rescue and relief operations could be mobilised promptly before access routes were cut off by floods.

He said personnel deployment, volunteer training and early evacuation mechanisms were also coordinated through the state and district disaster management committees, together with relevant response agencies.

In addition, he said eight Community-Based Disaster Risk Management (CBDRM) training sessions involving 726 participants had been conducted in Kelantan up to September to strengthen residents' ability to take early action before rescue agencies arrived.

Nadman had also allocated RM250,000 for CBDRM programmes in Kelantan, including a programme held in Jeli on Sept 25 and 26 involving more than 200 participants from 23 villages around the Pergau Dam.

He said the Rakan Nadma volunteer training programme, known as the East Coast Disaster Coordination and Response Simulation Exercise (EASTCOORD) 2026, was also held in Jeli from Sept 4 to 7 to strengthen coordination among volunteers and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in disaster response.