NADMA orders disaster control centres in Sabah, Sarawak to brace for floods

KUALA LUMPUR: State and district level disaster operation control centres in Sarawak and Sabah have been ordered to make preparations, including activating on-site control posts, to face the possibility of floods.

National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA) said the order was issued following a forecast of a monsoon surge capable of bringing continuous rain issued by the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia).

NADMA also said that the Social Welfare Department needed to ensure the availability of supplies for forward bases in Sabah and Sarawak in the event of flooding.

"As part of its preparedness, the Sarawak disaster operation control centre needs to coordinate the delivery of information to residents in flood-prone areas so that they are prepared if disaster strikes," NADMA said in a statement today.

A significant weather forecast for the period of Jan 6 to 12 issued by MetMalaysia today stated that a cold front is expected to occur in Sarawak from Sunday (Jan 9).

The department said that the conditions would cause increased humidity that will potentially lead to continuous rain and flooding, especially in the central and west divisions of Sarawak, and at the same time, thunderstorms may occur throughout the country in the mornings and evenings till night.

As of noon today, the number of flood evacuees in relief centres in Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang and Sabah have dropped, while Terengganu has fully recovered from floods with the closure of all relief centres in the state.

Flood operations nationwide have involved 17,901 responders and utilised 2,917 assets from various agencies.

According to NADMA, 50 road locations in states still affected by floods were being cleaned based on a disaster report from the Public Works Department as of 10 am.

"The Mineral and Geoscience Department also reported five more landslides, three in Sabah and one each in Kuala Lumpur and Negeri Sembilan, bringing the total of landslides nationwide throughout the North East Monsoon period to 250 cases," the statement read.

Also, post-flood cleanup operations by the Housing and Local Government Ministry along with the Environment and Water Ministry had cleaned 90 per cent of flood-hit areas in Selangor as of yesterday.

-- BERNAMA