An adorable toddler clutched her beloved pet cat while she was being evacuated from floods in Malaysia.

One-year-old Airies Delisya, still sucking on a pacifier, hugged her pet kitten Kembang amid rescue operations in Kapar town in the state of Selangor on December 19.

The pair sat on an inflatable raft while taking shelter under an umbrella and being pushed to an evacuation centre.

The flooding is said to be one of the worst that Malaysia has experienced in recent years, with a month’s worth of rain falling within days.

Dr Zaini Ujang, secretary-general of Malaysia’s Environment and Water Ministry, said: "The annual rainfall in Kuala Lumpur is 2,400mm (7ft 10.5in) and this means yesterday’s rainfall has exceeded the average rainfall for a month. It is something beyond our expectations and only occurs once every hundred years."

Authorities said at least eight people have died in the deluge, while some 21,000 people nationwide have been evacuated to relief centres.

The seasonal northeast monsoon, as well as a low pressure area that had formed in the South China Sea, reportedly worsened the severity of the rains.

The Malaysia Meteorological Department took down heavy rain warnings on Sunday evening as the rainstorms abated.

Environmental experts in Malaysia have linked the disaster to climate change. Dr Renard Siew, Climate Change Advisor to Malaysia’s Centre for Governance and Political Studies, said: "It’s becoming harder for climatologists to predict the weather with a higher level of accuracy due to the climate change phenomenon.

"The government has said that the flood is a once in a hundred years event. But to be honest, over the years we’ve seen so many of these extreme weather events happening across China, Germany and New York."

An adorable toddler clutched her beloved pet while being evacuated from floods in Malaysia.

One-year-old Airies Delisya, still sucking on a pacifier, hugged her pet kitten Kembang amid rescue operations in Kapar town in the state of Selangor on December 19. The pair sat on an inflatable raft while taking shelter under an umbrella and being pushed to an evacuation centre.

The flooding is said to be one of the worst that Malaysia has experienced in recent years, with a month’s worth of rain falling within days.

Dr. Zaini Ujang, secretary-general of Malaysia’s Environment and Water Ministry, said: ‘The annual rainfall in Kuala Lumpur is 2,400mm and this means yesterday’s rainfall has exceeded the average rainfall for a month. It is something beyond our expectations and only occurs once every hundred years.’

Authorities said at least eight people have died in the deluge while some 21,000 people nationwide have been evacuated to relief centres.

The seasonal northeast monsoon, as well as a low pressure area that had formed in the South China Sea, reportedly worsened the severity of the rains.

The Malaysia Meteorological Department took down heavy rain warnings on Sunday evening as the rainstorms abated.

Environmental experts in Malaysia have linked the disaster to climate change. Dr. Renard Siew, Climate Change Advisor to Malaysia’s Centre for Governance and Political Studies, said: ‘It’s becoming harder for climatologists to predict the weather with a higher level of accuracy due to the climate change phenomenon.

‘The government has said that the flood is a once in a hundred years event. But to be honest, over the years we’ve seen so many of these extreme weather events happening across China, Germany and New York.’