Kelantan evacuees double

KUALA LUMPUR:THE flood situation in several states has worsened, with the heaviest toll in Kelantan, where the number of evacuees has almost doubled to 81,925 since Friday.

The number of evacuees in Perak has risen to 6,983 while Selangor recorded its first batch of flood victims when 85 people in Klang were evacuated to relief centres.

The situation has improved slightly in Terengganu, Pahang, Kedah, Johor and Negri Sembilan, where a number of flood victims were allowed to return home. In Perlis, the number of evacuees remained at 195 people.

However, this could be a brief respite as the Meteorological Department said yesterday a fourth monsoon surge was expected to hit the country for three days beginning tomorrow, bringing with it heavy rainfall and strong winds.

The “yellow stage” advisory said the monsoon rain was expected to occur over Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, Johor, Perlis, Kedah and northern Perak.

Heavy rain was also expected in Kudat and Sandakan in Sabah, and over Kuching, Samarahan, Sri Aman, Sarikei, Sibu, Mukah and Betong in Sarawak.

The department’s National Weather Centre’s senior meteorological officer, Dr Mohd Hisham Mohd Anip, said the monsoon surge would likely bring two to three days of continuous rain.

“We predict the rain will impact Pahang and Johor the most, as early as tomorrow night (tonight).

“It will also hit Kelantan and Terengganu, but not to the fullest extent,” he told the New Sunday Times.

In Kelantan, Tumpat remained the worst-affected district with 26,000 evacuees, followed by Kota Baru with 24,034 evacuees.

Several stretches along the main road between Kota Baru and Pengkalan Chepa were flooded, and only accessible in 4x4 vehicles. The affected stretches included Jalan Sabak, Jalan Pengkalan Chepa and Jalan Tok Guru.

Chairman of the newly formed Kelantan Flood Disaster Relief Committee Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said there was a critical shortage of food and medical supplies in the four worst-affected districts, namely, Rantau Panjang, Pasir Mas, Tumpat and Tanah Merah, to which access by land had been cut off.

“The committee will expedite the despatch of food and medical supplies in whatever way possible,” he said at the Sultan Ismail Petra Airport in Pengkalan Chepa here.

As at press time, the number of victims in Terengganu dropped to 34,574 from the 35,641 victims at 99 relief centres in the morning.

Kemaman recorded the highest number of victims with 24,738 people from 5,897 families evacuated to 46 relief centres.

This was followed by Dungun with 8,683 victims from 2,383 families at 34 relief centres and Kuala Terengganu with 840 people in eight relief centres.

In Hulu Terengganu, 234 victims from 60 families were still at six relief centres and Besut with 84 victims from 18 families at two relief centres.

In Pahang, Raub became the ninth district to be hit by floods, with 453 people relocated to 10 relief centres yesterday.

The number of evacuees in the state, however, showed slight improvement, with 33,973 people from 8,647 families affected as at 5pm compared with 35,561 earlier in the morning.

Kuantan remained the hardest-hit district in the state with 13,418 evacuees, followed by Jerantut (5,791), Temerloh (4,617), Maran (3,332), Pekan (3,246), Lipis (2,485), Bera (618) and Rompin (13).

The floods also forced the closure of Km126 of the East Coast Expressway near Temerloh.

The trunk road from Lanchang to Maran was also closed to traffic and those heading to Kuala Lumpur from Kuantan were advised to postpone their journey.

In Perak, Kerian became the fourth district to be hit by floods with 164 residents evacuated.

As at 4pm yesterday, the number of evacuees in the state stood at 6,983 victims from 1,845 families, up from 6,321 on Friday, with Perak Tengah having the highest number with 3,479 evacuees.

This was followed by Kuala Kangsar (2,683 victims from 651 families), Hulu Perak (657 victims from 173 families) and Kerian. The victims were evacuated to 55 relief centres.

Several roads were closed to traffic. The East West Highway in Gerik was still inaccessible at Km63 because of a landslide on Tuesday, while part of the highway at Km83 (Jeli-bound) was also affected by a landslide.

Three roads in Perak Tengah, namely Jalan Selat-Teluk Sena, Jalan Bota Kanan-Teluk Intan and Jalan Parit-Siputih, were closed to all vehicles as floodwaters reached the 5m mark.

Jalan Sungai Korok-Cangkat Banjar (Parit) in Perak Tengah; Jalan Telok Bakong-Kampung Gajah; and, Mile 38 of the Alor Pongsu-Bukit Merah road in Kerian were accessible only to heavy vehicles.

To check on which roads are accessible, Perak motorists can contact the Public Works Department at 1800-88-33-77.

In Johor, the number of flood victims decreased, with only 439 victims at 10 relief centres.

Kluang, the hardest-hit district, has 182 victims at three relief centres, while in Segamat, two centres are housing 19 victims. In Batu Pahat, two centres had 94 victims while Kota Tinggi had one centre with 72 victims. Muar and Kulaijaya have 18 and 54 victims, respectively.

In Negri Sembilan and Kedah, all flood victims were allowed to return home.

In Malacca, the state government was bracing for floods as the Meteorological Department forecasted the heaviest rainfall to hit the state today.

The Penang government is also on high alert and preparing for any eventualities.

Keywords: Flood14
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