Perak flood ‘worst in five years’, Kelantan situation worsens

The floods which struck several villages in the Manjung district in Beruas, Perak have been described by locals as the worst in recent history.

Faizal Mohd Radzi, 32, a resident of Kampung Semangat, Segari, near Beruas, said this was the worst experience he had since moving to the village five years ago as his family had to evacuate from the house.

"I was shocked to see that the floodwaters outside our house had reached chest-level, and I had to carry my eight-year-old nephew to get to the relief centre.

"We did not expect the floods to be this bad. I pity my nephew who had come to the village to spend his school holidays and had to endure the floods," he said when met by reporters at a flood relief centre at the Barisan Nasional Back Bencher’s Club Hall in Batu 4, Segari.

Faizal was among 709 victims from 158 families in Manjung who were evacuated to six relief centres in Lumut and Pantai Remis following floods in several areas in the district.

Another resident, Muhamad Khairul Azmi, 21, who works as a security guard at a school, said he had returned home from work to help his family after finding out that his house was flooded.

He said the situation was made worse as water flowing down from a hill during heavy rain caused the house to be tainted with muddy water.

Over 14k evacuees in Kelantan

Meanwhile, more people have been moved out of their homes in flood-hit Kelantan, raising the number of evacuees to 14,237 as at 8 am compared to 13,873 at 9 pm yesterday.

The ‘infobanjir’ application of the Social Welfare Department reported that all the evacuees, from 5.561 families, were being accommodated at 63 relief centres in six districts, namely Kota Bharu, Pasir Mas, Tumpat, Tanah Merah, Pasir Puteh and Gua Musang.

Gua Musang became the latest district to be hit by the floods, and has 142 people from 32 families at two relief centres that were opened last night.

Pasir Mas has the highest number of evacuees, 10,646 from 4,482 families at 40 centres, followed by Tumpat with 2,266 people from 794 families at six centres.

Pasir Puteh has 828 people from 247 families at eight centres; Kota Bharu, 214 people from 63 families at four centres and Tanah Merah, 141 people from 43 families at three centres.

The infobanjir.water.gov.my portal of the Drainage and Irrigation Department reported that the level of Sungai Golok at Rantau Panjang, Pasir Mas, had dropped to 10.29 metres at 8 am from 10.34 metres at 8 pm yesterday, but remained above the danger point of nine metres.

The level of Sungai Golok at Kuala Jambu, Tumpat, remained at 3.71 metres, yet above the warning point of 2.50 metres.

The ebanjir.kelantan.gov.my portal reported that rain, at times heavy, was experienced in several places in the state.

T’ganu situation improves

While in flood-hit Terengganu, the situation has improved tremendously, leaving only 49 people from 12 families at two relief centres in the Setiu and Besut districts this morning.

The Info Banjir portal reported that in Setiu, 28 people from six families were being accommodated at the Kampung Nyatoh surau and 21 people from six families, at Sekolah Kebangsaan Tembila.

Nevertheless, heavy rain overnight had raised the levels of some rivers.

In Setiu, Sungai Chalok at the Chalok Bridge had risen to 8.76 metres, above the danger point of 8.40 metres, while Sungai Nerus at Kampung Langkap was at 21.52 metres, higher than the danger point of 21.50 metres.

In Besut, Sungai Besut at Kampung La had risen to 20.9 metres, above the warning point of 20.8 metres, and Sungai Telemong at Kuala Ping near Hulu Terengganu was at 19.56 metres, above the warning point of 19.30 metres.

- Bernama