Rare heavy rainfall cause flood at Penang airport
An unusually heavy downpour last night has caused a flash flood at the Penang International Airport in Bayan Lepas, Tuesday morning.
The flood apparently affected the exit area of the arrival hall, affecting vehicles moving in and out of the compound.
The heavy rain experienced in Penang last night was an "anomaly" of 62.6mm at the highest level. Normal rain level has been 10-15mm over the past 10 years, according to Malaysia Airports Holding Berhad (MAHB).
"Due to weather changes over the past 2-3 years, Bayan Lepas has received more rain than normal," said a MAHB spokesperson.
The total rainwater recorded was 84mm between 7.30am to 9am this morning.
The airport drainange system managed to clear the flooding and by 10am, the affected areas resumed to normal.
"The airport has installed four new pump sumps to channel the water from the main drain into the sea. Under normal circumstances, these would have been sufficient to manage the water drainage," said MAHB.
MAHB said it has been "doing everything it can to contain" the flood situation but said that the problem of flooding has been happening for quite awhile, especially when extraordinary heavy rain hits the area.
"The entire area surrounding the airport is low land and there are a lot of developments. There are some hills that are being cut down. All these has compounded the situation, which affects the school and houses in the area as well," said MAHB.
The spokesperson also said that MAHB has been working closely with the state government and authorities so that the recurring problem can be fixed in the long term.
Earlier this morning, Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng tweeted photographs of the situation.
“@My_Airports (Malaysia Airports Holding Berhad) should respond. Airports should be flood-proof, not flood-prone,” Lim tweeted.
However, Lim's tweets drew the criticism of Gerakan youth chief Tan Keng Liang, who asked the chief minister to solve the problem instead of being an "armchair critic".
This was not the first time the airport was flooded, there were at least three reported incidences – in March, September and November last year.
Astro AWANI is still awaiting a response from the Penang state government.
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