Zahid, who is the central disaster management committee chairman, said this was because only a few states and certain districts were currently affected by floods.

“The state disaster management committees have taken proactive measures, together with the district disaster management committees.

“The aid provided by the government has been given to all the heads of families. We are also giving post-flood assistance,” he said after visiting the temporary flood relief centre at Mersing Polytechnic today.

Also present were Johor menteri besar Onn Hafiz Ghazi and state secretary Azmi Rohani.

Zahid, who is also the rural and regional development minister, admitted that post-flood management would be more challenging, especially in the distribution of assistance and the recovery process.

He also said the government had approved an immediate allocation of RM10.5 million in Mersing to build a pump house and install three water pumps.

“Mersing is in dire need of a pump house as a short-term measure to prevent flooding. As such, I’ve immediately approved an allocation of RM10.5 million for the project, with each pump costing RM3.5 million.

“It will be channelled through the existing allocation from Nadma.”

He said the state government had informed him that Mersing required RM2.3 billion to overcome flood issues through long-term plans.

“However, they have for now only applied for an allocation of about RM50 million to be channelled to the state government and districts through the irrigation and drainage department for medium-term flood mitigation projects in low-lying areas in the district.”

Earlier, Zahid was given a briefing on the flood situation in the district, including mitigation plans like the ones at the Sungai Mersing and Sungai Tenglu Besar basins.

Three states have been hit by floods, with Sabah recording the highest number of evacuees (2,639) followed by Johor (2,464) and Pahang (314).