Floods worsen, displacing 90,000 in five states

The floods ravaging five states in the peninsula showed no signs of letting up, displacing 90,250 people as of this morning in what is seen as the biggest number of flood evacuees in the nation's

history.

Kelantan had the highest number of evacuees at 32,343, followed by Terengganu (28,991), Pahang (24,316), Perak (4,335) and Perlis (265).

In KELANTAN, 5,190 people were moved out of their homes overnight to add to the 27,153 already evacuated as of last night, according to the state government flood portal.

The latest evacuees were from the Tanah Merah and Kota Baharu districts. The state capital Kota Baharu was paralysed by the floods after Sungai Kelantan burst its banks there yesterday.

Seven of the eight other districts in the state are also affected by the floods, they being Gua Musang, Jeli, Kuala Krai, Machang, Pasir Mas, Pasir Puteh and Tumpat.

Fifteen more stretches of road in Kelantan had been closed as of this morning, raising to 37 the roads impassable to traffic due to the floods.

[PHOTO GALLERY]: FLOODS HIT THE EAST COAST

In TERENGGANU, the 28,991 evacuees from 6,975 families are being housed at 124 relief centres.

Kemaman is the worst affected of the districts, with 19,405 evacuees from 4,607 families.

A total of 5,022 people in the Dungun district have been moved to 33 relief centres. Kuala Terengganu district saw 3,203 people moved to 14 centres; Hulu Terengganu, 640 to 11 centres; Besut, 562 to eight centres; Marang, 115 to two centres and Setiu, 44 to three centres.

In PAHANG, the number of evacuees in eight districts rose by 8,372 to 24,316 this morning, up from 15,944 last night.

A spokesman of the Pahang Police flood operations room said Kuantan district had the highest number of evacuees at 14,350 from 4,119 families, now housed at 44 relief centres.

The Maran district has 2,744 evacuees accommodated at 17 relief centres, Jerantut, 2,478 (34 centres), Lipis, 2,319 (26 centres), Pekan, 1,402 (18 centres), Temerloh, 649 (15 centres), Rompin, 265 (four centres) and Bera, 109 (four centres).

In PERAK, the people moved out of their homes in the three districts of Kuala Kangsar, Hulu Perak and Perak Tengah has risen to 4,335 from 1,079 families.

A spokesman of the Perak National Security Council (NSC) said Perak Tengah was the latest area to experience floods, beginning yesterday afternoon. He said six more relief centres were opened today, in Bota and Kampung Gajah.

The Kuala Kangsar district, which also encompasses Sungai Siput town, had the highest number of evacuees as of this morning, at 2,767 from 659 families.

Twenty-three relief centres have been set up in the district.

Hulu Perak, which covers Lenggong, registered 615 evacuees while Perak Tengah had 953 as of this morning.

In PERLIS, the floodwaters in the northern part of the state remained stagnant but the number of evacuees had risen overnight.

The Perlis Social Welfare Department disaster operations room reported that 265 people from 81 families had been evacuated as of 9 am, up from the 253 from 71 families last night.

They are being housed at five relief centres, namely the Beseri Mara Junior Science College, Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Abi, the Malau hall, Beseri Dalam hall and Seri Pilihan hall.