KOTA BARU: Several districts in the three east coast states are submerged under floodwaters following continuous rain over the past four days.
A total of 1,462 people from Jeli, Tanah Merah, Gua Musang, Kuala Krai and Pasir Mas in Kelantan had been evacuated while 753 people in Terengganu had to move out of their homes. A total of 681 evacuees in Pahang are still in nine relief centres.
Bernama quoted a spokesman of the Kelantan Police Contingent headquarters as saying that of the total evacuees, 1,150 were from Jeli and they were now in schools, community halls and relatives' houses.
The flood also claimed its first victim in Kelantan when a six-year-old boy Yusri Abdul Aziz was believed to have drowned after he slipped and fell into the river behind his house at Kampung Kubang Kuai, near here.
Pasir Mas OCPD Supt Jalil Talib said the boy's body was recovered by the father, Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman, in his 50s, who had gone looking for him after realising he was missing at 11.30am.
A spokesman of the Hydrology Unit of the Kelantan Drainage and Irrigation Department said most of the major rivers, including the Sungai Kelantan and Sungai Golok, were flowing above their respective danger levels.
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PADDLING AWAY: Nordiana Yusoff (left), 27, with her mother Naimah Salleh, 48, newborn baby (carried by Naimah), and father Yusoff Ismail, 58, leaving their house at Kampung Lobok Setol in Rantau Panjang Wednesday, after ther area was hit by floods. |
Readings at various flood-assessing points in Kelantan, such as those at Tangga Krai, Guillemard Bridge and Tambatan Diraja, were also above the danger level.
Sungai Galas in Gua Musang was flowing just above the warning level, the spokesman said.
He said the readings at Tangga Krai in Kuala Krai and Guillemard Bridge at Sungai Kelantan were 25.98m (danger level 25m) and 17.01m (danger level 16m) respectively.
The readings at Sungai Galas were 35.83m (alert level 35m) and Tambatan Diraja 4.57m (alert level 4m).
In Terengganu, 697 people in Hulu Dungun and 56 in Besut had to move out of their flood-hit homes.
Dungun OCPD Supt Abdul Ghaffar Rejab said the Kampung Tanglong-Jerangau road, Jerangau-Kuala Jengai road, Tepus-Pasir Raja road and the Tok Kah-Kampung Lintang road were closed to traffic.
He said the Sungai Dungun Raja and the Sungai Kuala Jengai were flowing above the danger level.
In Pahang, FARIDAH BEGUM and NIK NAIZI HUSIN report that the latest village to be hit is Kampung Bukit Rangin in Kuantan when four people were evacuated while flood-hit areas still being monitored are Jaya Gading, Kuantan, Beserah and Panching.
Asst Supt Hashim Ya, who is overseeing the operations at the disaster control centre, said by noon yesterday, the road to Sungai Lembing was still closed to traffic and the only mode of transport to the former mining town was by helicopter.
In clarifying reports that a drowning had occurred, ASP Hashim said villagers managed to save the victim, who had been reported drowned on Tuesday.
Sultan of Pahang Sultan Ahmad Shah who visited the evacuees earlier, said he would write to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to appeal for assistance to rebuild the road connecting Kuantan and Sungai Lembing town as the road was still impassable to vehicles.
He said seven spots along the route had been identified as flood-prone stretches, resulting in the town being cut-off during the monsoon season.
He added that it would cost RM12mil to ensure that the road was not submerged in floodwaters every year.
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