Malé City Mayor Adam Azim has blamed Wednesday night's flooding in the capital on the sudden removal of drainage pumps from the city's most flood-prone areas, saying it was done without any backup plan.
In a statement published by the city council, Azim said the pumps were taken away on the grounds of road construction work. After two years of hard work had produced a good solution to flooding in Malé, he said, it was unacceptable for residents to face such conditions again.
The mayor also said that responsibility for Malé's storm water system is split between several institutions, which he called a major obstacle to managing it properly. He called for a quick replacement for the removed pumps, for the drainage system to be run under one roof, and for all the institutions involved to work together on a lasting fix.
How the night unfolded
The Maldives Meteorological Service raised its warning for the atolls from Kaafu to Vaavu to orange, the second-highest level, as heavy rain set in on Wednesday evening.
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said pumps were set up at 10 locations in Malé to drain the water, in a joint operation with the MNDF Fire and Rescue Service, police, the Maldivian Red Crescent, Malé City Council, MTCC and HDC.
By 11pm, NDMA said, requests for sandbags had come from 33 homes, 35 shops, six cafés and restaurants, five government and private buildings, four schools, two clinics, two warehouses, an office building and a construction site. It had helped 31 of them by then, and one home reported a sewage leak.
More rain today
The Met service issued white alerts on Thursday for heavy rain and thunderstorms with gusts of up to 40 mph. One covers Haa Alifu to Baa from 2pm to 8pm, and the other Lhaviyani to Laamu from 3:30pm to 9pm.
NDMA has advised people in flood-prone areas to use sandbags, move valuables and appliances to higher ground, secure loose objects and switch off appliances they are not using. In an emergency, people should call 911.