Residents of Maldives capital Male have been forced to wade through shin deep water amid relentless rain on Tuesday.
Housing minister Dr Mohamed Muizzu has said the capital's storm drainage system has been "deliberately sabotaged" that has resulted in the failure to drain flood water.
Several buildings had reported flood damage as most roads in the capital Male have been flooded.
The minister on Twitter said the panel boards of the drainage systems had been deliberately destroyed which had caused the streets to flood.
"The storm drainage system has been designed to drain flood within three hours. But that won't happen if the drainage system fails for any reason. I sincerely apologize to the public for this inconvenience," Muizzu said.
The military said it was now working to drain the flooded streets amid continued bad weather in the archipelago.
