Floods: Over 280 evacuated in Kedah, Perak

ALOR SETAR: More than 100 people were evacuated to temporary flood relief centres after their villages were hit by floods following several hours of heavy rain.

In Kulim, 74 victims from 17 families in Kampung Padang Limau in Karangan were evacuated to the centre at Sekolah Agama Ihsaniah Jangkang which was activated at 12.12am on Friday (May 17).

Kulim Civil Defence Force officer Capt (PA) Amirul Aliff Ahmad said as of 4am, the victims – including 25 children – had been settled in at the centre.

"Heavy rain over several hours caused water from the hills to flow into the low-lying parts of the villages," he said in a statement.

Capt Amirul Aliff said a team of Kulim Civil Defence personnel was deployed to the affected area to monitor the situation and help with evacuations.

He said they were also measuring water levels at every high-risk location in the area.

In Bandar Baharu, a total of 58 victims from 14 families in two sub-districts were rescued and relocated to a relief centre at Masjid Sungai Batu, which was activated at 3am.

Bandar Baharu Civil Defence officer Abdul Rahim Kharuddin said the affected villages were Kampung Cherok Meranti and Kampung Sungai Batu in the Sungai Batu sub-district, and Kampung Sungai Tengas in the Selama sub-district.

"The three-hour downpour caused rivers nearby to overflow, flooding the nearby villages," he said.

In PERAK, a total of 150 people from 52 families were evacuated to six relief centres last night after three districts in the state were hit by flash floods following several hours of heavy rainfall, reported Bernama.

The state disaster management committee secretariat said in a statement that as of 8am today, four centres were opened in the Taiping district, namely at the Sungai Baru Trong Community Hall, Jebong Kiri Community Hall, Masjid Al-Wusta Batu 8 and SK Termelok.

The relief centres are housing 78 victims from 30 families residing in Kampung Sungai Baru, Kampung Dato Sagor, Kampung Senduk Seberang, Kampung Batu 8, Kampung Temerlok and Kampung Nibong.

"A relief centre was opened in the Hilir Perak district at the Padang Tembak Multipurpose Hall to accommodate 42 victims, involving 10 families from Bt 9 Jalan Changkat Jong.

"In the Kuala Kangsar district, a centre has been opened to house 30 victims from 12 families from Kg Periang,” said the statement.

The continuous heavy rain last night also caused the water levels of Sungai Kerian in Selama and Sungai Perak at the Sultan Iskandar Bridge to rise, reaching alert levels.