SUNGAI PETANI, MALAYSIA - AN ELDERLY Kedah woman has become the first casualty of floods to hit parts of Kedah and Penang.

Aishah Salleh, 73, was found drowned in Sungai Dulang Kechil, in Yan yesterday. She is believed to have accidentally slipped and fell into Sunagi Dulang Kecil at 6am yesterday. Villagers found her body at 11am.

At least 12 villages in Kedah have been inundated with water levels at knee-deep in some areas after a 10-hour downpour on Satuday. Some 1,565 people have been evacuated to relief centres.

The villages affected were Kampung Titi Lahar, Kampung Kepala Bukit, Kampung Sungai Pari, Kampung Kepala Bukit Guar Chempedak, Kampung Kepala Bukit Gurun, Kampung Titi Teras, Kampung Tero Bukit, Kampung Sungai Malai, Kampung Kaki Bukit, Kampung Teroi, Taman Sinar Intan, Kampung Permatang Gedung and Kampung Baru Bedong.

Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak, who visited the victims at the relief centres in Yan yesterday, said the state, through the Welfare department and other relevant agencies had provided food, blankets and mats to the victims.

The state government would find ways to provide financial assistance to the victims from the state disaster relief fund, he said.

In GEORGE TOWN, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, who visited several affected areas on the island and Seberang Prai, appealed to the Federal Government to approve four major flood mitigation projects worth about RM400mil ($167.32mil) to prevent a repeat of Saturday's massive floods in the state.

He said the projects were planned for Sungai Pinang, Sungai Junjung, Kampung Valdor and Bukit Tambun.

'Saturday's downpour affected about 10,000 people , with water level rising up to 1.5m in some parts. If it rains continuously for the next 24 hours, I am afraid Penang may be end up becoming part of the Straits of Malacca,' he said.

The worst affected areas in Penang were Kampung Permatang Tok Subuh, Jalan Baharu, Kampung Pertama, Mengkuang Titi, Taman Mangga, Permatang Rawa, Kampung Dok and Kampung Jawa.

Among the worst hit areas on the mainland were Taman Sri Rambai, Taman Desa Damai and parts of the Prai Industrial area where the water pumps had malfunctioned. -The Star