Many people dream of the beauty of white, soft and fluffy snow, but yet there are those who are suffering from the cold harsh winter.
Allah SWT says: “No calamity befalls anyone except by Allah’s will. And whoever has faith in Allah, He will rightly guide their hearts through adversity. And Allah has perfect knowledge of all things.”
Local Emergency Relief
Everyone needs to prepare and play a role in reducing disaster risk, to be able to control the situation during the disaster and respond appropriately during the post-disaster phase as the tragedy or catastrophe happened unexpectedly.
Therefore, Islamic Relief Malaysia through the Local Emergency Relief campaign is aiming to raise RM500,000 to alleviate the suffering of those affected by disasters in Malaysia.
This platform will be open throughout the year to enable the public to fulfill their social obligations by contributing to this campaign. This initiative also enables Islamic Relief Malaysia to have a readily available fund to respond immediately as needed in the occurrence of any disaster or catastrophe.
Disaster Preparedness
A disaster means a sudden accident or a natural catastrophe that causes great damage or loss of life. Usually, it happens suddenly and unexpectedly.
Even though Malaysia is known as one of the safest and most peaceful countries, it also faces several disasters.
3 Types of Disaster:
- Natural disasters such as floods, landslides, hurricanes, and earthquakes.
- Man-made disasters such as fires, road accidents, collapsed buildings, industrial accidents, and civil riots.
- Hybrid disasters include the two elements of disasters such as building collapses during floods and road accidents during hurricanes.
Several Disasters That Often Hit Malaysia
FLOOD
Floods in Malaysia usually occur during the monsoon season due to continuous heavy rainfall in many areas. Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, and Johor are some of the states that are often hit by flood disasters.
The catastrophic flood in 2014 is the worst flood disaster in the history of Malaysia with more than 300,000 people forced to evacuate. The end of the year 2021 was also one of the biggest ever flood which has hit our country. The floods affected eight states including Selangor, Pahang, Terengganu, Kelantan, Negeri Sembilan, Melaka, Perak, and Kuala Lumpur. Around 116,273 people from 31,949 families were directly affected.
Click for More Info: https://publicinfobanjir.water.gov.my/main/
FIRE
Disasters caused by fire or uncontrolled burning can harm human lives, buildings, or an area. Fires that often occurred in Malaysia are usually caused by electricity or short circuits, cigarette punting, sparks, intentionally set on malicious intent, and also from gas or oil stoves.
Some of the fire incidents that have hit our country were at the forest reserve of Kuala Langat Selatan involving an area of 35 hectares in March 2020, the fire that destroyed 48 houses and 8 shops in Karak, Pahang in October 2021, the fire that destroyed 179 houses on water in Kudat, Sabah in February 2022 and a fire in Lawas, Sarawak in February 2022 that claimed 3 lives.
EARTHQUAKE
Earthquakes create tremors on the ground at a certain strength. It can also occur due to volcanic activity. The larger the size of the earthquake that struck, the worst the destruction.
Several series of earthquakes that have hit Malaysia happened in Lahad Datu Sabah in 1976 & 2010; Ranau, Sabah in 2014 & 2015; Janda Baik and Bukit Tinggi, Pahang in 2009.
On February 25, 2022, an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.2 on the Richter scale strikes the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The tremors were also felt in several areas in Klang Valley, including Kuala Lumpur, Port Klang, and Cyberjaya.
LANDSLIDE
This is a natural disaster that is common in Malaysia. It occurred along hill slopes and steep slopes. Common causes of landslides are erosion, continuous heavy rainfall, hill diversion, and deforestation.
Recent landslide incident happened at Jalan Simpang Pulai – Blue Valley, Ipoh, Perak; Kemensah Height, Hulu Klang, Kuala Lumpur; Kampung Palimbayan in Sungai Penchala and Taman Duta in Seri Duta.
TYPHOON
According to the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MET Malaysia), if a storm occurs in the Northwest Pacific Ocean, it is called a typhoon. The speed of the typhoon is at least 120 kilometers per hour (km/h). Although this disaster hit throughout the year, it usually occurs between May and October.
The typhoon incident that has just hit our country at the end of January was in Ipoh, Perak. As a result, several trees were uprooted, while dozens of houses were reportedly damaged.
Take Your Action
The impact of the disaster also disrupted the daily activities of those affected. Through our Local Emergency Relief, you can help them by donating generously.
Islamic Relief Malaysia has distributed various assistance during a local disaster such as; hot meal distribution, food packs, rice cookers, stoves and gas barrels, formula milk, disposable baby diapers, sanitary pads, clothes, worshipping and hygiene kits, electric water pumps, generator sets, volunteer support on house cleaning, psychosocial support, establishing of Disaster Risk Management (DRM) committees among locals, providing basic first aid training, and others.
Islamic Relief Malaysia is hopeful, that every donation given will lessen the burden of those impacted, and may Allah accept our good deeds.
Although the test that befell Malaysians at the end of 2021 and the opening of the year 2022 gave one thousand and one grief, we can see the unity of all Malaysians by working together to help those affected regardless of race, ethnicity, and religion. Alhamdulillah.
