Number of flood victims in Johor, Sabah continues to rise

The number of flood victims in Johor, Sabah and Pahang continued to increase last night following continuous heavy rain.

In Johor, a total of 5,000 people had been relocated to 51 relief centres as of 10pm, compared to 4,368 earlier in the evening, as Pontian became the seventh district to be hit by floods after Kota Tinggi, Kluang, Segamat, Mersing, Batu Pahat and Muar.

According to a statement from the state disaster management committee (JPBN), Segamat was the most affected, with 1,784 victims from 501 families, followed by Kluang (1,239 people from 358 families) and Mersing (851 people from 258 families).

"In Kota Tinggi, the number of victims evacuated is 706 from 169 families, followed by Muar (206 people from 46 families), Batu Pahat (196 people from 54 families) and Pontian (18 people from four families)," it said.

The readings at five rivers in the state also exceeded the danger level: Sungai Muar (at Sungai Gemas estuary) at 19.25m, Sungai Segamat at 9.23m, Sungai Segamat (Segamat Kecil) at 37.56m, Sungai Kahang (Kampung Contoh) at 16.12m and Sungai Pontian Besar at 11.16m.
 
In Sabah, the number of flood victims rose drastically to 1,421 people from 495 families at 17 relief centres in four districts compared to 607 people from 139 families earlier in the evening.

According to the Sabah JPBN, three districts recorded a sudden increase, namely Kota Marudu with 806 victims (356 families), Kudat with 381 victims (77 families) and Paitan with 155 victims (44 families).

In Pitas, the number of evacuees remained at 79 people from 21 families at three relief centres.

In Pahang, the number of evacuees in the Rompin district increased to 138 people from 42 families, compared to 97 people from 28 families earlier that evening.