KUALA LUMPUR, March 7 — Heavy rainfall, up to half a month’s rain in just two hours, was the cause of the floods in the capital city today, according to Environment and Water Minister Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man.

During a press conference today, he said the ministry’s Taman Desa SMART station and Air Panas station recorded rainfall readings of 106.5mm and 155mm respectively, two hours after rains started at about 2.30pm.

“The floods were caused by unusually heavy rains over a period of two hours, causing the existing drainage system to be unable to contain the high water flow capacity,” he said at the Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel (SMART) control centre here.

“... rain is now unpredictable, usually the monsoon season is at the end of the year, but now we are seeing rain falling in March. Usually in March, there is a drought.

“This is the direct effects of climate change that is happening, and because of that we are trying to give our full attention to long-term solutions,” he added.

The ministry’s secretary-general Datuk Seri Zaini Ujang, who was also at the conference, stated that Kuala Lumpur on average sees 2500mm of rain in a year — making it approximately 208mm of rain a month.

Tuan Ibrahim also said that the Gombak River’s water level had reached a “danger level” reading at the ministry’s Jalan Tun Razak station at 31.99m, while the river went up to a height of 30.38m at the Jalan Parliament station.

Meanwhile, the Klang River at the ministry’s Jambatan Tun Perak station reached 30.12m.

“This flash flood incident caused a parking area in Besraya to be submerged in water to a depth of 0.6m.

“In addition, an estimated 103 houses were affected around Kampung Perik and Kampung Pasir Baru, Kuala Lumpur,” added Tuan Ibrahim.

He also stressed that his ministry has requested RM393 billion for long-term solutions to mitigate floods in the country.

In January, Tuan Ibrahim took to Parliament to say that the country would need to spend more than RM300 billion for flood mitigation measures that would be implemented over a 50 year period — including the building of embankments and dykes.

Earlier today, government authorities confirmed flash floods in several areas in Klang Valley, especially in Kuala Lumpur.

At about 4pm, reports started emerging that parts of the capital city were affected by flash floods, with multiple videos from social media users showing cars and roads being submerged.