Tackling Malaysia’s Flood Management Challenges: Pathways to Resilience
Foh Wah John-Loh
University of Sunderland, United Kingdom
ABSTRACT:
Flooding has now become one of Malaysia’s most intractable natural disasters, which is getting worse every year due to rapid urbanization, deforestation, and climate change. Apart from displacing the community, such disasters take a heavy toll on national resources and infrastructure. The 2014 Kelantan flood marked a critical turning point in evaluating Malaysia’s flood management strategies—the catastrophe displaced more than 200,000 people and resulted in huge property damage. This incident, along with the floods that hit Kelantan and Terengganu in 2024, exposed systemic gaps in governance, technology adoption, and community preparedness in dealing with natural disasters. These gaps highlight the integrated and adaptive flood management approaches to address emerging challenges in the face of evolving problems [3], [5], [14]. This study examined Malaysia’s flood management framework and reviewed the effectiveness of the structural and non-structural measures adopted to date, particularly in light of the major flooding events referred to above. Drawing from qualitative methods, including government reports, expert interviews, and academic literature, the study identifies some areas of improvement in policy enforcement, technological applications, and grassroots involvement [9]. Recommendations are concentrated on community participation, real-time data-driven systems, and updated infrastructure that can resist future disasters. These findings provide valuable recommendations to policymakers, urban planners, and disaster response organizations to make Malaysia more resilient and sustainable against flood hazards [4], [18].
Published in: International Journal of Research in Engineering, Science and Management (Volume 7, Issue 12, December 2024)
Page(s): 106-113
Date of Publication: 03/12/2024
Publisher: IJRESM
Cite as: Foh Wah John-Loh, “Tackling Malaysia’s Flood Management Challenges: Pathways to Resilience,” in International Journal of Research in Engineering, Science and Management, vol. 7, no. 12, pp. 106-113, December 2024.