Over 15,000 evacuees at flood relief centres

Over 15,000 flood evacuees remained at 188 relief shelters in Johor, Pahang, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Selangor, Sabah and Terengganu as of last night.

In Johor, the number of evacuees rose to 4,737 people as of 8pm compared to 4,278 people in the evening, state health and environment committee chairman R Vidyananthan said.

He added that seven districts in the state were still affected by floods compared to eight earlier in the evening following the closure of the relief centre at Dewan Raya Sungai Tiram, Johor Bahru at 7pm.

“There are 71 relief centres open in seven districts, with Segamat recording the highst number of evacuees at 3,554 people, followed by Mersing (476), Kota Tinggi (210), Tangkak (297), Muar (52) and Batu Pahat (77), while in Kluang the number remained at 71 people,” he said.

In Pahang, the number of evacuees dropped slightly tonight to 2,438 people from 713 families at 46 centres compared to 2,572 people at 55 centres earlier in the evening. They were being housed at centres in the districts of Temerloh, Kuantan, Maran, Rompin, Jerantut, Lipis, Raub, Bera and Pekan.

Eleven roads were closed as of 8pm, including Jalan Air Hitam in Kuantan, Jalan Kampung Wau-Kertau (Maran), Jalan Kuala Lipis-Jerantut (Jerantut), Jalan Temerloh-Jerantut (Temerloh), Jalan Ulu Dong (Raub) and Jalan Southern Loop (Bentong).

The publicinfobanjir.water.gov.my website meanwhile reported that water levels at Sungai Pahang at Kuala Sungai Chini in Pekan, Sungai Serting in Jambatan Padang Gudang (Bera) and Paya Gintong (Jerantut) still exceeded danger levels, but were showing downward trends.

In Melaka, the number of evacuees declined slightly to 2,591 people from 667 families as of 8pm compared to 2,621 people from 674 families at 4pm. The evacuees were from 14 areas in Alor Gajah, nine areas in Melaka Tengah and 10 areas in Jasin.

Of the total, 1,007 people from 264 families were housed at nine centres in Alor Gajah, 1,391 people from 358 families were at centres in Melaka Tengah, and 193 people from 45 families were at four centres in Jasin.

Melaka works, transport, public facilities, infrastructure and flood management committee chairman Rahmad Mariman said heavy rain outside Melaka, especially upstream of rivers flowing into the state, had contributed to the floods that hit the state since Saturday.

“Sungai Lubok China and Sungai Melaka both received heavy rain upstream in Negeri Sembilan, causing the water to overflow in low-lying areas and affect the areas around Lubok China as well as Krubong, Taman Merdeka and Peringgit in the Melaka Tengah district.

“In Jasin, Sungai Kesang from Tangkak, Johor, overflowed and affected several areas in Sungai Rambai, Semujuk and Lanchang,” he told Bernama.

In Negeri Sembilan, the number of flood evacuees dropped to 1,967 people from 540 families with 21 relief centres open as of 8pm compared to 2,073 people from 568 families in the evening.

In Selangor, the number of evacuees remained the same at 40 people, 25 of whom were being housed at Dewan Orang Ramai Kampung Kelanang and 15 at Balai Raya Majlis Pengurusan Komuniti Kampung Banting in Kuala Langat district.

The water level of Sungai Langat in Bukit Changgang, Kuala Langat, which had been at the danger level in the evening, had dropped to an alert level of 4.12m as of 8pm.

In Sabah, the number of evacuees remained at 3,329 people at 26 centres in six districts. Kota Marudu still had the highest number of evacuees, with 2,766 people at 14 centres, followed by Pitas (234 people at four centres), Telupid (159 people at six centres), Paitan (83 people at three centres), Sandakan (46 people at one centre) and Beluran (41 people at two centres).

In Terengganu, a second wave of floods resulted in the opening of one relief centre in Kemaman at 9pm to house 10 evacuees from two families.

The state disaster management committee secretariat said in a statement that the relief centre at SMK Geliga was opened after the houses were flooded as a result of tidal surges last night.

The situation is being monitored to ensure the safety of residents in the affected area, who have been ordered to evacuate to relief centres if need be.