Kelantan facing bigger floods this year, says state Fire and Rescue Dept

 

A general view of Sungai Golok in Rantau Panjang, following heavy rain. -NSTP/NIK ABDULLAH NIK OMAR

KOTA BARU: The Kelantan Fire and Rescue Department described the latest floods, which hit the state since Thursday, as bigger than last year's incident.

Its director Zainal Madasin said Rantau Panjang was the worst district affected by this round of flooding.

Following this, he said the department has frozen the annual leave of more than 1,000 of its personnel.

"Since this morning, five districts in Kelantan were affected by floods and Rantau Panjang is the worst district to be hit.

Police officers monitoring the flood situation at Jalan Kalbok Lima, Rantau Panjang. -

"We have mobilised our men to the affected areas and since last week, their annual leave has been frozen.

"The department believes this is bigger than the last one which hit Kelantan in 2021. Levels at majority of the rivers rose rapidly," he said.

Zainal added that Pasir Mas and Rantau Panjang have opened 10 flood relief centres each, followed by Tanah Merah and Kuala Krai (nine each) and Jeli (five).

Jalan Kalbok Lima, Rantau Panjang - Pasir Mas, is closed to traffic after it was inundated with floodwaters. - NSTP/SYAHERAH MUSTAFA..

Meanwhile, villagers at low-lying areas in Pasir Mas and Rantau Panjang were spotted moving their vehicles to higher grounds.

The low-lying areas include Kampung Siram, Kampung Lubok Setol, Kampung Terusan and Rantau Panjang Lama.

According to the state Welfare Department's flood portal, Pasir Puteh was the latest to be hit by the floods, bringing the total districts inundated in the east coast state to five.

The other four affected districts are Kuala Krai, Jeli, Tanah Merah and Pasir Mas.

A view of the roads inundated with floodwaters in Kampung Cabang Tiga, Rantau Panjang. - NSTP/SYAHERAH MUSTAFA

The portal also reported that 31 flood victims from eight families are now taking shelter at the Dewan Kompleks Kamil relief centre in Pasir Puteh.

It pointed out that the number of flood victims continued to increase this morning compared to yesterday.

As of 9.15am, 3,743 victims have been evacuated to 36 relief centres in the five districts.

Continuous heavy rain since Thursday also resulted two main rivers in the state rising above their danger marks this morning.

The rivers are Sungai Golok in Kampung Jenob with a water level reading of 25.70m and Sungai Kelantan river at Kampung Temangan (21.18m).

Other rivers currently at warning levels are Sungai Golok in Air Lanas and Sungai Kelantan in Kusial, Kuala Krai and the Sultan's Pier. - NST