{
  "id": 17502635,
  "title": "Smart sharpens flood-rescue skills ahead of northeast monsoon [WATCH]",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/31/smart-sharpens-flood-rescue-skills-ahead-of-northeast-monsoon-watch",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-31T23:30:35.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "New Straits Times",
    "slug": "new-straits-times",
    "url": "https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2026/11/1567908/smart-sharpens-flood-rescue-skills-ahead-northeast-monsoon-watch"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "The Malaysia Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (Smart) recently conducted a five-day flood-rescue skills exercise to prepare for the upcoming northeast monsoon season. The training, held from October 19 to 23 at Pantai Bagan Lalang General Operations Force post, involved 136 Smart and National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) personnel. The exercise focused on operational readiness, boat handling, and safe evacuations, using five aluminium boats and surface safety equipment. Commander Abdul Manaf Che Isa emphasized the importance of the training, stating that Smart serves as a support force for frontliners and aims to ensure readiness and mobilization when floods strike various states in the peninsula, as well as Sabah and Sarawak. The daily schedule included boat maintenance, defensive and aggressive swimming, self-rescue, tactical navigation, and boat pickup, triage, and CPR on board. The training was conducted both during the day and at night to prepare for different operational conditions.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}