JOHOR BAHRU: People in parts of Johor Bahru district and Kota Tinggi hardly had time to recover from last week’s floods when continuous heavy rain since last night caused several areas to be flooded again.
In Kampung Laut Batu 10 and Kampung Paya, badly hit by floods last week, all the villagers had moved to relatives’ houses or to evacuation centres.
Malik Yahya, a resident of Kampung Paya, Bukit Mutiara here, said he was still cleaning his house which had been inundated when the water started rising again this morning.
“The water started rising from 9am due to continuous heavy rain since last night. I immediately saved the important documents first,” the father of three said.
Another resident who only wanted to be known as Khadijah said: “We were in the midst of cleaning and washing clothes after the flood, but suddenly it came back. It’s sad but what can we do?”
The number of flood victims in the state had increased to 1,251 people as at 4pm. The affected districts are Kota Tinggi, Johor Bahru, Mersing and Segamat.
In Kota Tinggi, residents and traders in the city centre started packing and placing their valuables in safe locations fearing a second wave of floods due to the continuous heavy rain since this morning.
At Kota Tinggi Bridge, a Bernama check found that the river was flowing very fast and the water level was very high due to the heavy downpour, and firemen and personnel from other agencies were also seen patrolling around the bridge, housing estates and at nearby villages.
A resident of Taman Kemang, Afizah Yunos, 50, said all the items that were still safe such as electrical appliances were placed back on the second floor of her house.
“We can only pray that there will be no second wave of floods because the flood this time is unpredictable, the water rises too fast,” said Afizah, who returned home three days after the flood last Saturday.
Food stall operator Radin Haslinah Othman, 53, who had just resumed business today after her stall was flooded last Saturday, said this time she had made initial preparations and would transfer raw materials and costly items if water starts entering the stall.
“If it rains heavily and continues like this, I will take the goods from the shop back with me because before this I did not have time to save the goods, especially the newly purchased raw materials,” she said.
More flood victims go home in four states
The number of evacuees in Pahang, Terengganu, Kelantan and Perak dropped this evening after several relief centres in these four states closed.
The number of flood evacuees in Pahang dropped slightly this evening: 25,392 people from 6,885 families were still being housed at relief centres in nine districts.
Temerloh district still recorded the highest number of evacuees (11,909) followed by Maran (3,577), Pekan (2,406), Lipis (2,200), Bera (1,565), Raub (1,472) Jerantut (1,286), Kuantan (777) and Rompin (200).
Floodwaters in Temerloh have receded in several locations, enabling the Temerloh-Mentakab road to be opened to light vehicles.
Two districts in Terengganu recorded a decline in the number evacuees to 6,981 at 24 relief centres. Kemaman still had the highest number of evacuees (6,169) while there were 812 evacuees in Dungun.
The number of evacuees in Kelantan also dropped to 2,118 in two districts. Relief centres in Tanah Merah district have closed, while in Pasir Mas, 1,334 victims are housed in 14 centres, and 784 victims are housed at 10 centres in Kuala Krai.
Only one centre remained open in Perak, with 59 victims in Teluk Intan.
Very heavy rain expected in Johor
The Meteorological Department has issued a danger-level weather warning with very heavy rain expected to continue in Johor Bahru, Kota Tinggi, Kulai, Pontian, Kluang and Batu Pahat. Meanwhile, a bad-weather warning was issued for Segamat and Mersing (heavy rain expected to continue), and alert-level warning for Tangkak and Muar. - FMT
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