Floods ease a little in Kelantan, evacuees now number 1,823

The floods in Kelantan have eased somewhat, thus reducing the number of evacuees to 1,823 from 474 families as at 9am from 1,872 people from 524 families last night.

Kelantan director of the Civil Defence Force Zainuddin Hussin said the relief centre at Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Legeh in Jeli was closed after the 49 evacuees there returned to their homes late last night.

"The evacuees at SK Legeh were allowed to return to their homes after the floodwaters in their village receded," he said when contacted by Bernama today.

Zainuddin said 839 people from 238 families still remained at 10 relief centres in the district of Kuala Krai; 666 people (167 families) at four centres in Jeli and 318 people (69 families) at seven centres in Tanah Merah.

He also said that the authorities had difficulty confirming the exact number of evacuees because some people registered twice and others registered as evacuees but returned to their homes.

Zainuddin said the main road link between Kuala Krai and Kota Bharu, which was closed to light vehicles at a stretch at Sungai Durian yesterday evening, was reopened to traffic today.

Meanwhile, the levels of three major Kelantan rivers showed a drop as at 9am, according to the state government portal, http://ebanjir.kelantan.gov.my.

The level of Sungai Galas at Dabong was 36.40 metres, down from 36.63 metres at 9pm yesterday. The danger level is 38 metres.

Sungai Lebir at Tualang measured 31.98 metres, down from 32.57 metres (alert level 35 metres) and Sungai Kelantan at the Krai Steps, 24.82 metres compared to 24.84 metres last night (alert level 25 metres).

However, the level of Sungai Golok at Rantau Panjang continued to rise, showing 8.83 metres at 9am compared to 7.72 metres (alert level 9 metres) last night. -- Bernama