Floods: More victims in Pahang, fewer evacuees in seven states, S’gor fully recovers

KUALA LUMPUR: The number of flood victims placed at temporary relief centres in Pahang continued to rise while a slight drop was recorded in seven states – Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah, Negeri Sembilan, Johor, Melaka and Perlis – as of 4pm on Sunday (Dec 1).

Meanwhile, the flood situation in SELANGOR has fully recovered after the relief centre in Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Sungai Binjai, Meru, Klang was closed at 1.13pm Sunday, with all the evacuees allowed to return home, bringing the total number of flood victims still housed in relief centres nationwide to drop to 148,024 people this evening compared to 152,377 on Sunday morning.

In Pahang, the number of flood victims increased to 1,152 from 389 families, compared to 452 victims reported this morning, covering the districts of Raub, Jerantut and Lipis.

According to the Social Welfare Department’s (JKM) Info Bencana portal, a total of 25 relief centres have been set up, with Raub recording the highest number of victims at 1,051, followed by Jerantut (77) and Lipis (24).

The Irrigation and Drainage Department’s infobanjir.water.gov.my portal reported that water levels at two rivers remained above the danger level, with Sungai (Sg) Kechau di Kampung Dusun, Lipis showing a reading of 83.67m and Sg Serting at the Padang Gudang Bridge in Bera (31.52m)

Several main roads in the Raub district have also been closed to all light vehicles due to floods at Kilometre (km) 344-KM342 of Jalan Kuala Lipis-Kota Bharu (Gali Lurul-Gali Hilir) and Jalan Cheroh-Gesing (Gesing bridge), according to the Raub District Police Headquarters.

The Sultan of Pahang, Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah has decreed that all mosques and surau in the state perform special prayers after several states have been hit by floods due to the Northeast Monsoon (MTL) phenomenon.

His Royal Highness decreed that the special prayers be held after the Friday prayers and daily after the Maghrib prayers.

In Kelantan, there is a drop in the number of flood victims, with 94,214 people from 29,264 families still placed at 264 relief centres compared to 96,743 on Sunday morning.

The JKM Info Bencana portal states that Pasir Mas still has the highest number of victims with 29,846 people, followed by Tumpat (18,652), Kota Bharu (11,146), Pasir Puteh (10,673), Kuala Krai (6,099), Bachok (6,611), Machang (6,595), Tanah Merah (4,243) and Jeli (349).

The infobanjir.water.gov.my portal, meanwhile, recorded that only three major rivers still exceeded the danger levels compared to five earlier today, namely Sungai Golok in Rantau Panjang (10.93m), Sungai Golok in Tumpat (4.19m), and Sungai Semerak in Pasir Puteh (3.27m).

There is also a slight drop in the number of flood evacuees in TERENGGANU this evening, with 41,788 people from 11,274 families still sheltering in 294 relief centres in all eight affected districts, compared to 43,281 people this morning.

The State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) said the districts of Besut, Setiu and Hulu Terengganu showed a drop in the registration of victims at relief centres this evening while the other five districts – Dungun, Kuala Terengganu, Kuala Nerus, Kemaman and Marang – recorded increases.

As of 3.30pm on Sunday, 10 monitoring stations – two each in Kuala Nerus, Marang and Hulu Terengganu, and one each in Kuala Terengganu, Dungun, Kemaman and Setiu – recorded water levels exceeding the danger level, according to a check on the InfoBanjir portal.

Earlier, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, while visiting flood victims at the SK Telaga Papan relief centre in Setiu, announced an immediate additional allocation of RM25mil for Terengganu to repair basic infrastructure such as roads and culverts, including elevating road levels in Hulu Besut.

In Kedah, the number of flood victims dropped to 8,468 people from 2,603 families as of 4 pm, compared to 8,754 people from 2,671 families this morning.

Kedah Civil Defence Force (APM) Deputy Director Mejar (PA) Muhammad Suhaimi Mohd Zain said in a statement that all evacuees from the seven districts have been placed in 52 relief centres,

Kota Setar has the highest number of evacuees at 3,421, followed by Kubang Pasu (2,490), Sik (987), Padang Terap (743), Pokok Sena (614), Kuala Muda (182) and Baling (31).

Meanwhile, PLUS Malaysia, through its Facebook page, said lanes in both directions of the KM32.1-KM33.2 along the Jitra to Hutan Kampung route are still closed due to floods, with south-bound traffic diverted to the Jitra Selatan interchange and north-bound traffic diverted to the Kepala Batas interchange.

In Johor, the number of evacuees dropped to 528 people from 139 families as of 4 pm today compared to 592 on Sunday morning.

Its SDMC chairman, Tan Sri Dr Azmi Rohani said this is following the closure of three temporary relief centres, namely Sekolah Kebangsan (SK) Bukit Rahmat, Sekolah Agama Bandar and SK Abdullah in Tangkak.

He added that three rivers – Sungai Muar in Buloh Kasap and Sungai Muar in Jeti Kampung Tekam, Segamat; and Sungai Tangkak in Kampung Seri Ma’amor in Tangkak – are reportedly at danger levels.

In Negeri Sembilan, the JKM Info Bencana website reported that the number of victims decreased to 1,561 from 419 families, who are all placed at nine relief centres in the districts of Kuala Pilah, Tampin and Jempol.

In Melaka, 238 evacuees are housed in four relief centres in three districts – Melaka Tengah, Jasin and Alor Gajah – as of 4 pm today, compared to 302 on Sunday morning.

The Melaka SDMC Secretariat said in a statement today that Melaka Tengah has 66 evacuees, Alor Gajah (14) and Jasin (158).

In Perlis, the flood situation continued to improve when another relief centre, Dewan Warisan in Kangar, was closed at 3.30pm on Sunday, resulting in the number of flood evacuees dropping to 75 people from 18 families as of 4 pm compared to 226 people from 62 families on Sunday morning. – Bernama