PETALING JAYA: More people have been evacuated due to the worsening floods in Pahang, Johor, Melaka and Sabah.
However, the third wave of floods that hit Terengganu is over, while the number of victims in Selangor and Negri Sembilan remains unchanged.
In Port Dickson, the number of flood evacuees in Negri Sembilan fell slightly, with 2,002 victims from 552 families moved to 21 relief centres. The number of victims at these centres on Sunday night totalled 2,103.
Tampin remains the worst-affected district, followed by Jempol, Kuala Pilah and Jelebu.
Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Aminuddin Harun said more sirens would be put up in districts in the state this year to warn the people of impending floods.
He said the state government had decided this last year and work would be carried out soon.
“This year, we will install the sirens in high-risk areas so that the people will know once floodwaters reach dangerous levels,” he told reporters after a visit to Kampung Chuah.
Asked about claims by residents in Taman Pinggiran Sungai Kelamah in Gemas that the siren put up in their area did not go off during the floods on Sunday, Aminuddin said they probably did not hear it as it was raining heavily.
“It was similar to what happened in Amangan the other day when the residents didn’t hear the siren go off although the station was located close to their homes,” he said.
“I will ask the Drainage and Irrigation Department to probe this.”
Aminuddin also said the authorities would look into the possibility of increasing the sound volume of the siren.
It is learnt that the authorities have so far installed 22 such sirens in the state.
In Melaka, the number of flood evacuees in the state has gone up to 2,537 as at 8am yesterday, said the Civil Defence Force (APM).
Melaka APM director Lt Kol (PA) Cubbert John Martin Quadra said there were evacuees from 656 families in 22 flood relief centres state-wide.
He said the Melaka Tengah district had the highest number of evacuees with 1,391, followed by Alor Gajah (1,015) and Jasin (131).
In Johor Baru, the number of victims seeking shelter at temporary relief centres (PPS) in eight districts affected by floods in Johor has risen.
State health and environment committee chairman R. Vidyananthan said there were 4,278 people from 1,130 families taking shelter at 70 PPS as at 4pm yesterday.
Earlier, 4,062 people from 1,064 families were taking shelter at 64 centres in seven districts.
“Muar is now the latest district to be hit by floods with 52 people from 14 families at two PPS,” Vidyananthan said in a statement.
He said the majority of the flood victims were from Segamat with 3,344 people from 872 families at 47 PPS; Mersing with 395 people from 101 families at six PPS; and Kota Tinggi with 203 people from 60 families at three PPS.
Vidyananthan said seven rivers in the state were at dangerous levels as at 4pm yesterday, compared with four rivers at noon.
In Kota Kinabalu, Sabah’s flood situation continued to worsen with 3,329 people evacuated as at 4pm yesterday despite signs of floodwaters receding earlier.
Sabah APM spokesperson said the evacuees comprised 1,231 families in mainly six northern and eastern Sabah districts, who were being placed in 29 temporary flood relief centres in the state.
Dozens of villages were flooded or had access cut off by the floods since New Year’s Eve amid rains that are expected to continue until today.The worst-hit district was the northern Kota Marudu and Paitan sub-district with more than 2,000 people having been evacuated while flooding was also experienced in Beluran, Telupid, Sandakan, Pitas, Ranau, Kinabatangan and Lahad Datu.
Two landslips were recorded in Ranau and Kinabatangan while two people died in flooding and a third person remains missing.
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