Terengganu fully recovers from 3rd wave of floods

Terengganu has fully recovered from its third wave of floods which hit the state since Dec 23.

According to the Terengganu State Disaster Management Committee (JPBNT) secretariat, the last temporary evacuation centre (PPS) in the state at Dewan Serbaguna Taman Perumahan Wakaf Tengah in the Kuala Nerus district, housing six victims, was closed at 2pm today.

Earlier, the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) had issued a flood warning expected to occur gradually in several low-lying areas near rivers, within a range of five kilometres (5km) in Terengganu, starting from 2am on Dec 24 until 2am on Dec 26.

However, heavy rain on Dec 23 forced the first PPS to open earlier, at 9:30pm, at SK Pusat in Dungun, with 21 victims initially placed there.

Marang then became the second district to be hit by floods on the same day when 12 victims from three families had to seek shelter at the PPS at Dewan Sivik Wakaf Tapai, which opened at 10pm.

The continuous heavy rain episode saw one district after another in Terengganu starting to bear the brunt of the disaster, and Kuala Terengganu completed the list of eight affected districts in the state on Dec 26.

The highest number of flood victims was also recorded on Dec 26, with 10,643 people from 2,913 families seeking refuge in 134 PPS.

The flooding also surprised many when the Felda Rasau Kerteh cluster in Ketengah Jaya, Dungun, was hit by the disaster for the first time in 40 years, forcing 260 victims to be relocated to PPS.

After several days of observing an increase in the number of flood victims, the third wave of floods in Terengganu began to show signs of abating on Dec 27, when the number of victims recorded by JPBNT fell below 10,000 people.

Starting Dec 28, Besut became the first district to recover from the disaster as all PPS in the district were closed, - followed by Kuala Terengganu, Kemaman, Setiu, Hulu Terengganu, Marang, Dungun and Kuala Nerus today.

- Bernama