Five people have died and more than 100,000 people have fled their homes across Malaysia as the country faces its worst flooding in a decade.

The government has come under fire for not declaring a state of emergency to help devastated communities as the country prepared to face more heavy weather.

Forecasters have predicted further heavy rainfall across previously unaffected southern parts of the country.

Among the dead was a man who drowned at a relief centre on Christmas Eve, while a rescue boat carrying eight people, including a young couple, went missing after it became entrapped in a whirlpool and capsized, state news agency Bernama reported.

Local media carried photographs of people wading through flood waters as deep as two metres and entire houses submerged by rising water.

Seasonal flooding hits Malaysia every year and regularly forces tens of thousands from their homes, but the latest floods are the worst seen in the country since at least 2004.

Authorities ordered the evacuation of areas mostly in Malaysia’s north-east, affecting an estimated 118,000 people.

About 100 tourists stranded in the remote Mutiara Taman Negara Resort in central Malaysia were rescued and sent to a relief centre.

Rising flood water rendered several roads unusable and authorities have suspended train services in some of the worst-affected areas.

Communications systems were also badly hit by the storms.

PM criticised for golfing in US during floods

Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak called on rescue workers desperately trying to reach flood victims to step up their efforts to deliver food and water.

But Mr Razak came under fire after photos showed him golfing in Hawaii with United States president Barack Obama during the storms.

Malaysians used his official Facebook page to question why he was not at home to deal with the crisis.

“The PM needs time to take a break,” deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times.

“He has been working very hard so let’s be fair to him as a human being. Don’t worry, I’m in charge.”

Mr Yassin also insisted the government had responded appropriately to the flooding, telling the newspaper: “We face floods every year but this is looking to be the worst the country has seen in the last 30 years”.

“Unless there was a total breakdown in electricity or water supply, or if the number of evacuees rises to over hundreds of thousands, we will not declare a state of emergency.”

Mr Razak later decided to cut short his usual year-end vacation and return to Malaysia to oversee rescue operations.

He is expected to land in Kelantan, one of the worst-hit states, and meet people affected by the crisis as well as discuss new measures with authorities to help flood victims.

“I am deeply concerned by the floods. I feel for the people who have lost their homes, and the families who have lost loved ones,” Mr Razak said in a statement.

“I want to see the situation for myself and be with the people.”

The Malaysian Meteorological Department warned of a heavy downpour over the next few days in parts of the country that have so far been spared the worst of the flooding, including the southern state of Johor, which neighbours Singapore.

Meanwhile, Thailand’s Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation declared disaster zones in eight of its southern provinces after floods killed at least 13 people.

The zones are in Surat Thani, Nakhon Sri Thammarat, Pattalung, Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat, Songkhla and also Trang, which has been flooded since mid-December.

The Department said more than 184,000 households were affected by the floods and nearly 8,000 people displaced.

AFP/Reuters