KOTA KINABALU: A total of 1,289 flood victims from 437 families in Pitas and Paitan have been allowed to return to their homes with all eight temporary relief centres closed as the flood situation in the districts improved on Monday (Jan 20).
The Civil Defence Force in Sabah in a statement said that earlier, 816 victims from 311 families had sheltered in three relief centres in Pitas, while 473 victims from 126 families were housed in five centres in Paitan.
"The Pitas and Paitan District Disaster Management Committees have declared all relief centres in the districts closed this afternoon,” it said.
The weather in Pitas and Paitan was cloudy on Monday and is expected to remain so into the same evening.
Meanwhile, the Malaysian Meteorological Department issued a thunderstorm warning at 1.45pm Monday for several areas in Tawau and Sandakan, expected to last until 5 pm.
"The warning is issued when signs indicate thunderstorms with rainfall intensity exceeding 20 mm/hour are imminent or expected to last more than an hour. Thunderstorm warnings are short-term alerts valid for no more than six hours per issuance,” it said in a statement. - Bernama