Powerful winds wreaking havoc on Sabah's west coast

KOTA KINABALU: Winds packing speeds of up to 50km per hour uprooted trees and snapped off branches making driving hazardous amid driving rains along Sabah’s west coast, northern and interior districts.

Firemen were kept busy responding to 110 calls of trees and branches falling on houses, roads and vehicles since Oct 16.

Sabah Fire and Rescue Services Department operations room chief Khatizah Rahaban said there were however no casualties reported in those incidents.

She said there were 72 reports of trees or branches falling on roads while there were also 23 calls of houses being damaged in similar incident.

Khatizah said firemen were received 11 reports of trees of branches falling on power cables with electricity supply disruptions at various locations.

There were also another four reports of vehicles hit by the falling trees.

Fallen trees also damaged chalets on Manukan island near here while roofs of vegetable stalls popular among visitors in Kundasang were blown off by the strong winds.

Also blown off were sections of roofing at the Kian Kok secondary school here.