Flood: Number of evacuees in Sabah, Sarawak continues to rise

The number of flood evacuees in Sarawak and Sabah continued to rise as of 8pm yesterday.

In Sarawak, evacuees rose to 11,234 people from 3,187 families in six divisions in the state, with Bintulu Division (encompassing Bintulu, Tatau and Sebauh districts) having the highest number with 5,350 people from 1,429 families, followed by Serian Division (Serian, Siburan and Balai Ringin districts) with 2,254 people from 703 families.

The Samarahan Division (Samarahan, Asajaya, Sebuyau, Simunjan and Gedong districts) saw 1,530 people from 508 families evacuated, the Sibu Division (Selangau and Kanowit districts) with 1,017 people from 237 families, the Miri Division (Miri and Subis districts) with 608 people from 157 families and the Kuching Division with 475 people from 153 families.

In Sabah, the number of evacuees rose slightly to 5,195 people from 1,797 families as of 8pm, with 33 relief centres open in nine districts after the closing of Dewan Letinggi in Kota Belud.

Kota Marudu has the highest number of evacuees at 2,944 people from 1,095 families, followed by Pitas (792 people from 276 families), Lahad Datu (505 people from 133 families), Telupid (288 people from 75 families), and Paitan (240 people from 87 families).

A total of 207 people from 67 families were evacuated in Kota Belud, while in Beaufort (108 people from 31 families), Beluran (57 people from 20 families) and Tongod (54 people from 13 families).

According to Bernama, the number of evacuees in Kota Belud and Lahad Datu both rose, while the evacuees in other districts remained unchanged.

Sarawak gets additional RM10m relief

Sarawak Premier Abang Johari Openg announced an additional allocation of RM10 million for the State Disaster Management Committee to aid in the ongoing flood relief efforts in the state.

Abang Johari Openg

With this allocation, he said the committee would be able to distribute aid to all areas affected by the floods.

“There is already an allocation for them but I’m adding another RM10 million so that they can assist all affected areas,” he told reporters yesterday after visiting the Malaysian Red Crescent temporary relief centre, which accommodated residents of Kampung Lereng Bukit who were displaced by a landslide three days ago.

He stressed that the flood in Sarawak is not due to drainage issues but rather the impact of climate change.

“The floods that have affected almost all areas in Sarawak are caused by an extraordinary amount of rainfall over the past few days, followed by continuous rain, which then coincided with the high tide phenomenon,” he said.

Bernama also reported that various banks, including Maybank, Public Bank Bhd, Hong Leong Bank Bhd, Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia Bhd and OCBC Bank (M) Bhd, have come forward to assist their loan and financing customers who are affected by the floods in Sabah and Sarawak. - Mkini