Malaysia floods force tens of thousands to evacuate

Malaysian towns were left inundated with muddy water in the wake of torrential rains, footage shared on social media, showed on Wednesday, forcing more than 72,000 people to evacuate as rainfall and floods were forecast to persist.

At least two people have died as floods hit five states this week, and authorities have set up hundreds of relief shelters as the number of people displaced grows.

Experts have said rapid urbanization and conversion of forests into settlements and industrial agriculture have made even inland areas, including capital city Kuala Lumpur, increasingly vulnerable to extreme floods as rainstorms intensify due to climate change.