Sabah flood victims pass 8,000 mark

The number of flood victims evacuated to relief centres in four states remained on the rise today with the number in Sabah surpassing the 8,000 mark as of 2pm.

The Sabah disaster management committee (JPBN) secretariat in a statement said the number of evacuees sheltering in 33 relief centres in the state had increased to 8,523 people from 2,966 families, from 6,843 people from 2,412 families recorded this morning.

Kota Marudu had the highest number of evacuees at 6,150 from 2,208 families at 12 relief centres, followed by Pitas with 1,522 victims from 530 families, Paitan with 718 victims from 199 families, Tawau with 109 victims from 24 families, and Telupid with 24 victims from five families.

In Pahang, the PPBN secretariat reported a slight increase in the number of flood evacuees this afternoon.

A total of 327 victims from 99 families were reported at three relief centres in Rompin as at 2pm, compared to 323 victims from 97 families this morning.
 
The relief centre in Kampung Setajam had the highest number of evacuees at 165, followed by Kampung Rekoh (122) and Bukit Lepas (40).

In Johor, the number of evacuees in seven districts dropped slightly to 3,676 people this afternoon from 4,868 people recorded at 8am.

The Johor PPBN secretariat said 10 relief centres had also been closed, one each in Pontian, Mersing and Muar, three in Kota Tinggi and two each in Segamat and Kluang.

Mersing remained the worst-hit area with 1,795 victims, followed by Kluang (874), Kota Tinggi (486), Batu Pahat (363), Segamat (131), Muar (19) and Tangkak (15).

The water level at five rivers in the state, however, is still above the danger level.

The rivers are the Muar River near Sungai Gemas in Segamat; Lenik River in Ladang Chaah, Segamat: Kahang River in Kampung Contoh, Kluang: Endau River in Mersing; and Muar River in Bukit Kepong, Muar.

In Sarawak, the JPBN secretariat said that two relief centres in Lundu and Sematan were closed just before 2pm.

The two centres at SK Sebat and Kampung Sebat Dayak were activated on Wednesday.