Kedah latest state to be hit by floods

KUALA LUMPUR: Kedah is the latest state to be hit by floods with Karangan sub-district near Kulim being affected after two hours of heavy downpours since 2 pm today.

Kulim district disaster management committee secretariat spokesman Capt (PA) Amirul Aliff Ahmad said a relief centre at Sekolah Menengah Agama (SMA) Madrasah Insaniah Jangkang was opened at 6 pm but the total number of evacuees has yet to be determined as evacuations were still underway.

"About 25 homes in Kampung Padang Limau have been affected following heavy rain since 2 pm and flooding occurred at around 4 pm," he said in a statement tonight, adding that monitoring by Civil Defence Force (CDF) personnel revealed that the water level of Sungai Padang Limau had exceed the danger level, and that water was flowing very swiftly.

He advised residents to be vigilant and to evacuate if floodwaters rose.

In PAHANG, floods that hit in the evening following continuous rain since last night have also affected Pekan district, resulting in the opening of three relief centres, Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Peramu Jaya, Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Seri Terentang and SK Tanah Putih, to house 75 evacuees from 21 families.

Meanwhile, the number of evacuees in Kuantan dropped slightly tonight to 1,285 people in seven centres compared to 1,310 people at noon.

According to the publicinfobanjir.water.gov.my website, two rivers in Pahang, Sungai Belat in Sri Damai, Kuantan and Sungai Keratong in Rompin have exceeded danger levels.

In JOHOR, 155 evacuees remain in three centres tonight compared to 355 people at 4 pm. From that total, 129 people from 34 families are in two centres in Batu Pahat, with the remaining 26 people from nine familes being at the single centre in Segamat.

Rain has been forecast in seven districts tonight, except for Johor Bahru, Pontian and Kulai, which will have good weather.

Also, Sungai Bekok in Batu Pahat has exceeded danger levels with a depth of 19 metres.

-- BERNAMA