Kedah floods: Temporary homes for victims who have lost their houses

BALING: The Kedah state government will provide temporary accommodation to the victims of nine houses that were destroyed by floods in Kupang near here, yesterday.

Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor said the state government would rent several houses for the victims while they build new houses on safe sites.

"A total of 627 flood victims from 12 villages were reported to have been affected. A total of nine houses were completely washed away, and only the site remained. Five houses were badly damaged while the rest were flooded and their property damaged.

"For the nine houses, the state government will help to provide temporary accommodation, rent some houses for them while they try to build new homes," he said at a press conference at the incident command post in Kampung Ibor near here, today.

He added that the construction of new houses on the original site was unsafe as the previously deep river had become shallow.

"Replacement houses will be built if they have a safer site because we are worried that if the house is built on the original site with the shallow river, water could overflow.

"Areas that were badly flooded used to be deep but now it's at the same level as the road," he said.

Muhammad Sanusi said government agencies were also assessing the physical damage to the infrastructure due to the floods.

"Among those identified so far is the bridge that connects Kampung Ibor with Kampung Bendang Bechah where it had been destroyed and many roads were also damaged," he said.

In the same development, he said, two catchment areas, namely those built by durian growers to irrigate crops as well as catchment areas built by the villagers for community water supply, are still on Gunung Inas, adding that it means the water flow that forms the water surge has accumulated from the streams in Gunung Inas and has flowed simultaneously down, which is similar to what happened in Gunung Jerai last year.

Muhammad Sanusi also advised residents in the surrounding areas to take precautionary measures as the Meteorological Department predicted heavy rain in the same area this afternoon.

-- BERNAMA