Number of evacuees in Sabah, Sarawak continues to rise

A check at infobanjir.water.gov.my this afternoon found Sungai Padas in Beaufort, Malihah in Kuching; Sungai Jelai in Lipis and Sungai Pahang in Lubuk Paku, Maran and in Serambi, Pekan, Pahang; as well as Sungai Golok in Kuala Jambu, Kelantan still recording readings above the danger level.

Meanwhile, the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) forecast rain and thunderstorms to continue to hit Sarawak and Sabah until Jan 19.

In SABAH, the number of flood evacuees has increased to 1,054 people as at 4 pm today, with all of them housed in eight temporary relief centres (PPS) in three districts, namely, Kota Marudu, Pitas and Beaufort.

According to a statement from the Sabah Disaster Management Committee Secretariat, the number of flood victims in four PPS in Kota Marudu, namely, Kampung Asin-Asin hall, Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Taritipan, SK Advent Damai and Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Tandek has increased to 885 people.

FLOODS- ROUND UP (EVENING) 2 KUALA LUMPUR

In Pitas, 145 people are housed in three PPS in the district, while the number of evacuees placed in Datuk Seri Panglima Mohd Dun Banir hall, Beaufort remained at 24.

Meanwhile, heavy rains on the east coast of Sabah have caused five villages in Lahad Datu to be flooded. Thus far, four districts in Sabah, namely Kota Marudu, Pitas, Beaufort and Lahad Datu, involving 101 villages, have been affected by the floods, but thus far no evacuees are reported in Lahad Datu.

In SARAWAK, Sarawak Disaster Management Committee Secretariat head, Major (PA) Ismail Mahedin said that the number of residents evacuated to PPS has increased to 385 people, of which 332 are housed in six PPS.

There are four new PPS opened today, namely the Bimajaya recreational hall which houses 75 people, Taman Malihah multipurpose hall (187), Batu Kawa shophouses (60) and Kampung Batu 1 multipurpose hall in Miri accommodating seven people.

In JOHOR, the weather conditions have improved allowing three PPS to be closed, leaving 30 centres still operating as at 3.30 this afternoon.

FLOODS- ROUND UP (EVENING) 3 (LAST) KUALA LUMPUR

Johor Health and Environment Committee chairman R. Vidyananthan said that following the closures, the number of people affected by floods remained at 2,999.

However, Kota Tinggi remained the district with the highest number of evacuees at 2,161 people followed by Johor Bahru (624), Kluang (121), Segamat (76) and Pontian (17).

In PAHANG, the number of flood victims this afternoon dropped to 14,360 people who are still accommodated at 131 PPS compared with 16,292 people recorded this morning.

The social Welfare Department Disaster Info Portal reported that Temerloh recorded 6,080 evacuees followed by Pekan (3,267), Maran (2,066), Bera (1,633) and Kuantan (792).

Three districts that were previously severely affected by the floods that started on Jan 3 have also showed improvement, with Lipis recording 353 evacuees, Jerantut (106) and Raub (63).

In KELANTAN, the number of flood victims involving the Pasir Mas district has dropped to 58 people at 3 pm compared with 84 reported this morning. All the victims are housed at PPS at SK Tok Deh, Pasir Mas.