Dry days bring respite

KUCHING: Drier weather brought some respite to flood-hit areas in southern Sarawak although nearly 8,000 evacuees remained at relief centres, while some schools were still closed.

At noon yesterday, a total of 7,965 flood victims from 2,051 families were sheltering at 48 relief centres.

Meanwhile, the body of a youth who went missing while crossing a river during the floods in Kampung Maang, Siburan, on Saturday, was found by a search team at 6.15pm yesterday.

Fire and Rescue and Civil Defence personnel found the body of Judus Jalina, 18, about 150m from where he was reported to have fallen although they had recovered his bag and slippers earlier.

The State Disaster Management Committee secretariat said 34 relief centres remained open in Kuching, eight in Serian and six in Samarahan.

State Fire and Rescue Department director Nor Hisham Mohammad said some evacuations were still carried out yesterday although the weather had improved considerably.

He said the department’s personnel evacuated 94 villagers from Kampung Sorak Melayu, Serian, as well as 132 people from Kampung Selampit and 197 people from Kampung Bitokan in Lundu.

“We are monitoring the situation in other flood-affected areas. We also have one team with a lorry attached to the Welfare Department to supply rations to evacuees,” he added.

Help is here: Fire and Rescue personnel looking for flood victims at SK Rantau Panjang, Batu Kawa, near Kuching.

The state Education Department said 19 schools were closed due to floods yesterday, comprising seven in Bau, nine in Padawan, one in Lundu and two in Lubok Antu.

It also said eight schools in Padawan, Bau, Serian and Samarahan were being used as temporary relief centres.

At a relief centre in Kampung Batu Kitang here, villager Amirul Amin said he was evacuated with nine family members on Saturday afternoon after non-stop rain caused flooding.

“We saw the water rising quickly so we knew we had to move,” he said, adding that the Fire and Rescue personnel helped them to evacuate.

“The flood came all of a sudden. The water kept rising beyond our expectations.

“Together with the village head, we immediately took action to move people to this relief centre on top of a hill,” said Kampung Batu Kitang’s flood management committee member Zat Rosli.