Floods: Over 9,000 in relief centres across six states

KUALA LUMPUR: Over 9,000 victims have been moved to temporary relief centres in six states, including Melaka and Pahang, which are the two latest states to be hit by floods, as of Wednesday (March 1) night,

In Melaka, the State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) Secretariat said 22 evacuees from eight families had been moved to three centres in Jasin and Alor Gajah and 18 victims from six families from Kampung Bukit Balai, Kampung Pondok Batang and Kampung Bukit Asahan in Jasin transferred to Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Asahan at 4.30 pm.

"Meanwhile, four victims from two families from Kampung Bukit Tambun and Kampung Gadek in Alor Gajah have been moved to Balai Raya Bukit Tambun, also at 4.30 pm. Registration of evacuees at SK Chohong in Jasin is still ongoing after it was opened at 7pm on Wednesday,” it said in a statement.

In Pahang, a total of 293 people were affected by floods in four districts - Rompin, Jerantut, Pekan and Maran.

Rompin District police, through a statement on Facebook, said that 164 evacuees had been placed at three centres in Balai Raya Perwira Jaya, Balai Raya Kampung Rekoh and Balai Raya Bukit Ibam.

At the same time, the Jerantut district Civil Defence Force (APM) said a relief centre had been opened at SK Felda Kota Gelanggi 1 to house 77 victims after their houses were inundated when Sungai Siam overflowed its banks due to continuous heavy rain since Tuesday (Feb 28).

In Pekan, 45 flood victims were placed at Dewan Semai Bakti Felda Chini 1 after flood waters rose up to 1.2 metres while a family of seven was affected in Maran at Felda Jengka 6.

In Negri Sembilan, state APM director Lt Col (PA) Mohd Nazri Mes Kam said that with the addition of four new centres, there are now six relief centres open in Jempol, Tampin and Kuala Pilah as of 9 pm, which are housing 145 victims from 40 families.

The six centres are Sekolah Agama Rakyat Felda Jelai 4, Balai Raya Pasir Besar and SK Gedok in Tampin, as well as SK Felda Palong 7 and SK Felda Palong 1 in Jempol and Dewan Desa Dangi (Kuala Pilah).

In Johor, the number of flood victims continued to surge from 7,981 at 4pm on Tuesday to 9,162 as of 8pm on Wednesday, with Muar being the ninth - and latest - district to be affected by floods.

"Segamat is the worst-affected area with 767 families evacuated to 30 relief centres, followed by Johor Bahru with 609 families at 11 centres; Kota Tinggi with 404 families at 17 centres; and Kluang involving 409 families at 10 centres,” the SDMC said in a statement on Wednesday night.

Also affected is the Muar district with 179 families housed at nine centres; Kulai (190 families at six centres); Mersing (14 families at two centres); and Tangkak (five families in two centres).

Meanwhile, in Sarawak, the number of flood victims in the Kuching, Bau and Siburan districts dropped to 127 from 34 families tonight compared to 169 from 50 families on Wednesday afternoon.

According to the Sarawak SDMC, as of Thursday night three relief centres were still in operation, namely SJK Chuang Hua Batu Kawa in Kuching housing 80 victims from 19 families, Kampung Mundai Multipurpose Hall in Siburan (27 victims from seven families) and the Datuk Seri Mohammad Hamdan Hall, Bau Fire Station (20 victims from eight families).

In Sabah, the SDMC in a statement said that 108 victims from 24 families were still placed at the Kampung Simpang Entilibon Mini Hall in Tongod on Wednesday night.