He said the flash floods, which hit several areas in the city since noon, were caused by excessive rainfall and the high tide phenomenon.

“The floods were due to the rapid rise in water levels and I was informed that in an hour, the rainfall reached up to 100mm, compared to the usual 10mm to 20mm.

“This had caused flash floods in Johor Bahru, including the Sultanah Aminah Hospital as well. The high tides also prevented the floodwater from flowing out,” he told reporters after observing the flood-affected area at Jalan Air Molek here.

Onn Hafiz said he had asked the local authorities and state public works, transportation and infrastructure committee chairman Fazli Salleh to take immediate action so the problem would not recur.

At the same time, the department of irrigation and drainage (DID) would carry out works to pump out floodwaters from the affected areas.

“The DID will also improve the pumping system to accommodate higher water capacity,” he said.

The heavy rain at 12.30pm resulted in several main roads in the city being inundated, including Jalan Ayer Molek, Jalan Wong Ah Fook, Jalan Tun Abdul Razak, Jalan Kolam Air and Jalan Yahya Awal.

About 500 vehicles were submerged. Kampung Baru Mohd Amin was among the areas flooded but there was no evacuation.