Flash floods hit parts of northern Sabah

A harvester is partly submerged during flash floods in the northern Kota Marudu district on Monday. The flood waters receded by the afternoon.

KOTA KINABALU: Flash floods hit parts of the northern Kota Marudu district, some 120km from here, following two days of continued heavy rain.

Areas such as Kampung Batu 4 and Kandawayon have inundated by about 1m of water since late Sunday.

Retired Sabah Water Department technician Matthew Gitom, who lives at Kampung 4, said low lying areas as well as padi fields had been affected.

He said floods had taken villagers by surprise due to the dry conditions over the past several months.

The Malaysian Meteorological Services Department had warned of hot and dry weather in Sabah between January and March due to the El Nino phenomenon.

It said, the impact of phenomenon would see a reduction of rainfall of between 20% and 60% and an increase in temperature of between 0.5 and 2 degrees Celsius during the period.