KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 8 — Even as generous Malaysians stepped up to provide ongoing aid to flood victims in the east coast, many volunteers are already on standby to help with the clean-up work as soon as the water levels in Kelantan and Terengganu go down.

Unlike the massive 2014-2015 floods that displaced over 230,000 people and caught many unprepared for its disastrous scale, many civil society groups feel this year’s less intense floods and improved weather mean that conditions may be ripe for them to begin the post-flood relief work soon.

This is barely days after the number of people forced to leave their homes peaked at just over 23,000.

The situation appears to have improved, based on ground reports and official flood evacuees figures that were almost halved by Friday evening.

Dr Ahmad Munawwar Helmi Salim, chief coordinator of Islamic Medical Association Malaysia’s Response and Relief Team (Imaret), said some Kelantan evacuees have returned home to clean up as flood waters receded, although some of those who returned are still relying on evacuation centres for either food or shelter.

"From the ground [reports], Rantau Panjang is getting better. Pasir Mas also, got few reports that Tumpat is increasing.

"For the next mission, we will see what’s the report from all NGOs and government agencies… and we will send our next mission soon, earliest by Sunday, probably we will go again,” he told Malay Mail Online when contacted Friday.

The type of relief work that Imaret will be providing in its next mission will depend on the assessed needs, with hygiene kits — usually provided for evacuation centres where overcrowding could lead to higher risk of disease spreading — possibly taking a backseat to medical aid and cleaning-up activities, Dr Ahmad said.

Imaret volunteers handing out medication to flood victims at a relief centre in Kelantan. Jan 6, 2017 — Picture courtesy of Imaret

He said 33 volunteers from Imaret and the 4WD group X-Tra Team 4x4 & Dirt bikes went on its second joint mission on Friday to the Pasir Mas and Rantau Panjang areas in Kelantan, where they still had to brave through flooded roads and even use boats.

He said the Imaret Kelantan mission led by its chief coordinator Dr Siti Afifah Abd Manas distributed 200 hygiene kits to 200 families and provided medical assistance, while medical students were sent as volunteers to help the staff of the government’s Rantau Panjang health clinic carry out cleaning works.

Kelantan executive council member Datuk Nasaruddin Daud said the state’s flood conditions was not considered critical and was slightly less severe than that in 2014, which is considered to be one of the country’s worst floods.

Nasaruddin said food supplies at government evacuation centres were adequate, but welcomed non-governmental organisations to provide aid, especially food items such as rice, canned sardines, eggs and sugar.

Nasaruddin also said the flood in the state is slowly receding although there were areas in Pasir Mas that were still under 11 feet of water as of Thursday.

Tzu Chi’s volunteers handing out bottled drinking water and biscuits to evacuees at a relief centre in Rantau Panjang, Kelantan. January 5, 2017 — Picture courtesy of Buddhist Tzu Chi Merits Society Malaysia

Meanwhile, Buddhist Tzu Chi Merits Society Malaysia commissioner Khoo Boo Leong said the group sent 21 volunteers on a three-day mission in Kelantan — its first since this year’s floods started — and distributed aid to a total of 670 families or 1,928 people at SK Gual Tinggi and Kg Gual Sitok in Rantau Panjang.

"It’s ongoing and we will do our best to reach out and provide relief aid, care, support, whatever required by the flood victims regardless of race or religion.

"We will review the situation and will provide relief aid based on need basis for future missions,” he told Malay Mail Online when contacted.

Instead of rushing in blindly, many of the groups that Malay Mail Online spoke to kept in close contact with locals in the east coast to time their relief work to match the actual needs of the flood victims. They also do not shy away from the laborious task of clearing the muddy mess and joining the flood victims in picking up pieces of their lives again.

This was in stark contrast to the 2014-2015 floods where numerous groups rushed into the state uncoordinated, causing traffic jams along the state’s trunk roads and disaster-stricken areas such as Manek Urai.

Many hands make light work, as these Imaret volunteers at a Rantau Panjang government clinic show. Jan 6, 2017 — Picture courtesy of Imaret

Post-flood relief: The ‘real work’ begins

Rev. Andy Chi, the disaster response coordinator for the National Evangelical Christian Fellowship (NECF) Malaysia, said local churches and Christian relief organisations will be focused on providing cleaning-up services and post-flood relief items such as personal hygiene kits, food and water.

"At this moment in time, the real work will only begin when flood recedes. While water is on, we are not involved in search-and-rescue. We will only be involved when floodwaters subside.

"Right now we are assessing the situation, what are the needs, then we will proceed to help when floods recede,” the NECF assistant secretary-general said, having noted that their reach is slightly limited as they do not have boats.

"It is a collaboration between the churches in Kota Baru and also together with our organisation NECF and we also have got our Christian relief organisations that are involved, CREST, HISTEAM and Methodist Malaysia,” he said, noting that churches moved from individual-based efforts and came together for collective flood relief efforts following the massive east coast floods in late 2014 to early 2015.

The group will be looking to working closely with the Civil Defence Force to provide aid in Kelantan’s Kota Baru, Kuala Krai, Temangan and Gua Musang, as well as Terengganu’s Dungun area.

Noting that the floods this time is "not as bad as” the 2014-2015 floods with the government already covering some of the needs, Chi said there appears to be no immediate need to raise funds, as there was still some surplus funds from previous appeals to churches that can be used.

NECF’s Rev Andy Chi handing over aid to a Civil Defence Force officer in front of a trailer-load of bottled drinking water. Others from left to right: Lions Belinda Chow, Phillip Chay, Datuk Ong Theng Soon, Lee Teck Leong. Jan 6, 2017 — Picture courtesy of NECF

In the first batch of flood relief supplies by NECF, the organisation contributed a total of 24,000 bottled drinking water in a joint effort with the Lions Club and Civil Defence Force — with the latter providing logistics and manpower to distribute them to all evacuation centres in Kelantan and Terengganu.

Lions Club’s Region 5 district chairman Datuk Ong Theng Soon said in a statement that the society raised funds to buy 48,000 bottles of drinking water in just two days from members and their friends, including the Lions Club of Subang Jaya (9,600 units), Lions Club International District 308B2 (9,600) and the Federal Territories Civil Defence Force’s associate officers (4,800).

Methodist Crisis Relief chairman Jacob Lee, whose team will be focusing on the Rantau Panjang and Temangan areas in Kelantan, said their work will be carried out together with local churches under NECF’s coordination to enable immediate response in their assigned areas.

"So far, we have not deployed our team, we are going there next Thursday to make assessment, because we are doing post-flood relief,” he told Malay Mail Online, pointing out that the government bodies would be the front-liners handling relief work during the floods.

Lee said his team would likely distribute food kits and cleaning kits — including shampoo, towels, brooms and shovels — after the floods, besides also deploying volunteers to help in cleaning up and repair work. He said there was also other options, such as bringing in builders or contractors for cleaning up with heavy machinery if the post-flood conditions are severe.

Imaret volunteers helping out the staff of Kelantan’s Klink Kesihatan Rantau Panjang in cleaning up efforts after flood waters subsided. Jan 6, 2017 — Picture courtesy of Imaret

Volunteerism platform 1Malaysia for Youth (iM4U) said the first phase of its collaborative flood relief effort with the National Disaster Management Agency, government ministries and private firms is to distribute half tents at relief centres, while iM4U’s disaster relief team in Kelantan will gauge the victims’ main needs.

"For on the ground volunteering efforts in Kelantan and in Terengganu, we have already our outreach centre teams ready for deploy, especially for the post flood clean-up,” the group told Malay Mail Online earlier this week.

Hayati Ismail, coordinator of the Rakyat4Rakyat (R4R) group that had previously carried out mass collection drives for relief supplies for the 2014 flood victims, said the group will be announcing by next week its campaign to deal with the flood’s aftermath.

"R4R will be doing post-flood relief with food, school supplies. I have been following up daily on the situation there and it looks under control.

"Therefore we will run post-flood campaign as we see it as important,” she told Malay Mail Online when contacted, adding that the group plans to bring the relief supplies over before the Chinese New Year celebrations.

Imaret volunteers unloading hygiene kits for flood victims in Pasir Mas, Kelantan. Jan 6, 2017. — Picture courtesy of Imaret

Additionally, World Vision Malaysia’s head of public engagement Arthur Chan said the international Christian relief and advocacy organisation is "closely monitoring” the situation in Kelantan and Terengganu and will only step in if required.

"At this point, the government, civil authorities and local community-based organisations are coordinating the effort and we understand the scale of impact to be manageable so far.

"In the event where a national state of emergency is declared or the scale of disaster is beyond the collective capacity of the Authorities to respond, World Vision Malaysia will give our support and aid in the emergency relief effort,” he told Malay Mail Online.

During the 2014 east coast floods that had stretched on into early 2015 and affected hundreds of thousands of people, World Vision Malaysia had helped 3,023 families in Kelantan with donated relief supplies — including food kits, hygiene kits and school supplies. It also aided 486 families and 5,352 students during the rehabilitation phase.