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Floods in Malaysia force thousands of people to leave their homes

By Abdullah Buqas KUAKA LUMPUR, Jan 31 (KUNA) -- Floods, which killed two people in southern Malaysia, forced thousands of people to head to Kuala Lumpur and other safe areas.
An eyewitness told KUNA here Monday that about 30,000 people evacuated their homes in Johor province and moved to the capital and other big cities because of the heavy rain that was falling since last week.
He added that highways between Johor and Kuala Lumpur were crowded.
That coincided with the celebrations of the Chinese new year, which will begin in two days.
Meanwhile, the Malaysian Meteorological Department said that rain will continue falling until the end of this week.
Malaysia Insider newspaper said Monday that the eastern part of Singapore was also hit by floods caused by heavy rain.
Water covered most of the bridges, hindering movement between the two countries.
From December 2006 to January 2007, 60,000 people in Johor suffered from floods that killed about 6 people and injured thousands of others.
Damage caused by the floods then cost about 1.5 billion Malaysia ringgit.
One ringgit equals about USD 0.3326. (end) aab.ris KUNA 310916 Jan 11NNNN