An aerial view taken on Nov 5, 2017, of the flash flood which submerged George Town. Flash floods are becoming a common occurrence in Penang. — CHAN BOON KAI/The Star
With climate change, on top of unsustainable development, these flash floods are now becoming a regular occurrence in Penang. As many climate scientists have warned, Malaysia – especially its coastal areas – will face increasing temperatures, more frequent extreme weather events such as heavier torrential rain as well as sea-level rise.
“Basically, what we’re doing is we’re channelling the money we’re getting into four areas,” Benson explains. “In fact, we even have an allocation within the funding received to codify the knowledge, to capture the knowledge so that we can share it with other agencies,” he says. “The Kuala Lumpur City Council would like to see how they can use innovations and new ways of looking at urban design and urban regeneration to mitigate flooding,” she says.“The Penang council, DID and Think City were brave enough to try to implement this project. They just jumped in.