Students affected by floods

KOTA KINABALU: A total of 1,355 schoolchildren and 137 teachers were affected by floods that hit parts of Sabah since last week, says the state Education Department.

Sabah Education Department deputy director Abidin Marjan said the students and teachers were from schools in the Beluran and Beaufort districts.

“The students were affected after floodwaters cut off the roads leading to their schools. One school is being used as a temporary relief centre as well,” he said yesterday.

The Sabah Civil Defence Department said 628 people from 187 families were evacuated to relief centres in Paitan, Lahad Datu, Telupid and Beluran districts as at 4pm yesterday.

The number of evacuees in Beluran is expected to increase as rescue operation is still ongoing with the rain continuing to pour.

The situation in Lahad Datu, Telupid and Paitan has started to ease with the number of evacuees slowly dropping.

However, 14 relief centres remain open to house flood victims in these four districts.

Meanwhile, places like Kota Kinabalu, Penampang and the surrounding areas have also started experiencing heavy rain from noon yesterday.