Baling flood: 495 evacuees still at 3 relief centres

The number of evacuees affected by the floods in Baling has dropped to 495 people at three relief centres (PPS) at 8am today, from 1,424 people last night.

Baling Civil Defence officer Rasidah Kassim said most of the evacuees who left were those at the PPS at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama Yayasan Al-Khiriah.

Most of them are students who left when their relatives came to pick them up, leaving only 78 students still at the PPS, she said in a statement today.

She said the evacuees at the other PPS, namely at SMK Jerai comprised 159 people from 50 families, while 258 people from 59 families were at the PPS at Surau An-Nur.

The floods and water head phenomena that occurred yesterday afternoon also killed three victims, while seven houses were destroyed by strong currents and about 70 houses were damaged as a result of the disaster.

The floods in Baling had claimed the lives of three family members, including a four-month pregnant woman, who were killed when their house in Kampong Iboi was swept by the current.

- Bernama