Malaysia PM halts leave for cabinet after floods displace more than 90,000

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia — Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Friday barred his cabinet members from going on leave, after the displacement this week of more than 90,000 people in a growing flood disaster that officials fear could be country's worst in a decade.

"All ministers have been asked to continue their duties and go down to the ground now," Anwar told reporters, according to a video posted online by state broadcaster Bernama TV.

"Yes," Anwar replied when asked if ministers' leave had been frozen.

Floods are common on the east coast of peninsular Malaysia during the monsoon period between October and March, but this week's torrential rain has led to mass evacuations, mostly in the northeastern state of Kelantan that borders Thailand.

Three people have died and 94,778 people had been evacuated to 527 temporary shelters in nine states, with Kelantan and neighboring Terengganu the worst hit, according to the National Disaster Command Centre. It did not provide further details on the deaths.

Videos posted on social media showed overflowing rivers, submerged cars, and houses inundated by flood waters.

The Meteorological Department said heavy showers were expected in eight states until Saturday, with dangerous levels of rain forecast for multiple districts in Kelantan and Terengganu.

Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said this week that the floods were expected to be more severe than in 2014, when nearly a quarter of a million people were forced from their homes.

The government has deployed more than 82,000 security personnel as well as rescue boats, four-wheel drive vehicles and helicopters, Ahmad Zahid said.

The flood has also impacted seven provinces in southern Thailand, with four fatalities so far and more than 240,000 households affected, according to its interior ministry.

(Reporting by Rozanna Latiff; Additional reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat in Bangkok; Editing by John Mair, Martin Petty)