4 states see rise in number of evacuees

 

Floodwaters rise in Taman Angkasa Nuri in Melaka. The state had 1,661 people from 429 families seeking shelter at evacuation centres. (Bernama pic)

KUALA LUMPUR: There has been an increase in the number of flood victims at temporary evacuation centres (PPS) in Sabah, Johor, Melaka and Pahang this evening.

The situation, however, remained unchanged in Terengganu and Negeri Sembilan while Kelantan has fully recovered, authorities said.

There were 9,100 evacuees at relief centres in various states as at 4pm today.

In Sabah, Pitas became the latest area to be hit by floods as total evacuees in the state rose to 1,249 from 432 this evening compared to 1,161 victims from 399 families at noon.

The state disaster management secretariat said 21 areas in Pitas were cut off and three other areas were affected, while Kota Marudu was the district with the most affected areas, at 30, followed by Paitan (23), Telupid (16) and one area each in Sandakan and Beluran.

In Johor, the social welfare department’s (JKM) Info Bencana website, updated at 6.50pm, said 2,684 people were evacuated, with 2,508 of them from Segamat, due to the floods.

The state has also opened up 43 relief centres to accommodate the rising number of flood victims.

State health and environment committee chairman R Vidyananthan said Segamat was the hardest hit district, with 31 villages, three housing estates and surrounding areas affected.

According to the publicinfobanjir website, four rivers have exceeded their danger levels as at 4.15pm, Sungai Tangkak in Kampung Seri Makmur, Tangkak; Sungai Segamat in Bandar Segamat; Sungai Muar in Buloh Kasap, Segamat and Sungai Lenik in Ladang Chaah, Segamat.

In Melaka, the number of evacuees continued to rise, with 1,661 people from 429 families this evening compared to 1,225 people from 313 families at noon today.

Melaka civil defence force director Cuthbert John Martin Quadra said they were from 14 areas in Alor Gajah, nine areas in Melaka Tengah and four areas in Jasin.

“A total of 720 evacuees from 195 families are being housed in 10 centres in Alor Gajah, 868 from 217 families in seven centres in Melaka Tengah and 73 people from 17 families in two centres in Jasin,” he said in a statement.

In Pahang, the state disaster management committee secretariat reported that there were 2,058 evacuees at 48 centres in eight districts this evening.

Of that number, 995 were victims from the second wave of floods in Raub, Lipis, Jerantut, Maran, Bera and Rompin, while the rest were evacuees from the major floods which struck in the middle of December in Temerloh and Pekan.

Seven roads have been closed – Jalan Sungai Lembing and Jalan Kuantan-Kuala Lumpur near the Bukit Gambang Resort, both in Kuantan, Jalan Kuala Lumpur-Kuantan (Maran), Jalan Kuantan-Segamat (Pekan), Jalan Kuala Lipis-Jerantut (Jerantut) and Jalan Temerloh-Jerantut and Jalan Paya Luas-Perlok in Temerloh.

In Terengganu, the number of flood victims remained at 137 victims from 42 families at two PPS in Dungun this evening.

“Even though flood waters have subsided, all the victims are not allowed to go home at the moment. If the weather changes for the better, we expect to allow them to go home tomorrow afternoon,” he said.

In Negeri Sembilan, updates on the welfare department’s Disaster Info application showed that the number of flood victims in 19 relief centres in the state has dropped to 1,973 individuals from 532 families as of 4pm today compared with 2,166 from 555 families at noon.

Meanwhile, Kelantan JKM director Said Sidup said the state has fully recovered from the floods that hit on Dec 18 after the closure of three relief centres in Kuala Krai and Jeli due to improved weather conditions.

He said 225 people from 94 families housed in the three relief centres were allowed to return home.

Kelantan police chief Shafien Mamat said four deaths were recorded due to floods in the state involving individuals aged between 13 and 65. - FMT