No fewer than four people have been killed and 40,000 displaced following seasonal floods that ravaged Johor, Malaysia at the weekend. 

Among the deaths confirmed by the state authorities in Johor on Saturday was a man who became trapped in a car that was swept away by rising floodwaters.

Footage taken by rescue workers and volunteers in towns across the southern state showed groups of people stranded on rooftops as their houses disappeared underwater.

Images shared by the National Flood Disaster Agency showed rescuers wading chest-deep in some areas to save people trapped in their homes. It also showed that a rescue worker was seen carrying a baby in a bucket to safety, as other images displayed flooded roads, forests and vehicles submerged in muddy water.

Malaysia, like many of its Southeast Asian neighbors, is vulnerable to seasonal floods. Neighboring Singapore has seen heavy torrential rains since February.

Malaysia’s worst floods in decades occurred in 2021, when there were 54 deaths and the army was mobilized. The widespread floods that year hit eight states and strained emergency services across the country, sparking criticism of the government’s response to the disaster.

Johor, population 4 million, is Malaysia’s second most populous state and is the worst hit by this season’s floods. Tens of thousands of its residents have now moved to relief centers in schools and community halls, officials said.

Experts from the Malaysian Meteorological Department have warned that the wet weather could continue until April.