Over 1,000 evacuated in north
Published on: Sunday, January 04, 2015
 7.jpg "Over 1,000 evacuated in north")
KOTA BELUD: Several villages in Pitas, Kota Marudu and Kudat in the north were hit by flash floods just as water started to recede in most parts of the district, here, Saturday.All in over 1,000 people were evacuated. State Civil Defense Department Director Col Mulliadi Alhamdi said 486 people were evacuated to four flood relief centres in the three districts after water started to rise since midnight. For Pitas, as at 5pm, some 29 families comprising 139 people, namely 49 men, 57 women, 17 boys and 16 girls were sheltered at SK Rukom and Dewan Gereja Kg Kebatasan. The villages involved were Kg Rukom and Kg Kebatasan Laut with a water level reading of 5.49meter at press time.
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For Kota Marudu, 23 families from Kg Marudu Laut, comprising 82 people, namely 19 men, 27 women, 13 boys, 18 girls, four baby boys and one baby girl were sheltered at SK Ranau. As at 10.30am, all the flood victims sheltered at SK Ranau were allowed to return home when the water level in Sg. Bongon in Kota Marudu started to recede with a reading of 4.8m.In Kota Belud, the three flood relief centers where all 821 flood victims from 15 villages took shelter were allowed to return home at about 3.30pm after water in most parts of the low-lying areas began to recede. State Community Development and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Jainab Ahmad during her visit to the flood relief shelters proposed a meeting on how to address the flood issues in the State. Jainab together with officers from the Welfare Services Department, local community leaders and Wanita Umno members went to the district to monitor the situation and to donate essential items to the flood victims.
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In Kudat, some 909 victims, including 59 babies from Kg Korina, Kg Narandang and Kg Andap Jawa were evacuated when Sungai Korina started to overflow and inundated the villages.An estimated 500 to 600 people have been placed at SK Sikuati that operates as a flood relief center while other victims opted to stay with their families and relatives on safer ground.
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State Special Tasks Datuk Teo Chee Kang, who visited the village and relief center said the 909 flood victims included adults, children and babies from 245 households in the three villages registered as at 6.30pm. Teo who is Tanjung Kapor Assemblyman said the flood was the first since improvements were made to drainage systems and watercourse of the river in 2008. "The flood was due to extraordinary rainfall, causing water to spill from the river," he said, adding that many of the victims in the affected villagers were fishermen. The water level read at 2.8 meters at noon but started to subside to 2.6 meters towards evening. Teo said the Natural Disaster Committee in Kudat has held a flood preparation meeting a few days prior to the flash flood. "We will continue to monitor the water level and flood situation in Kudat, We do not expect the water level to go down that fast, so victims may have to put up at the relief center for the night," he said. In SIPITANG, five villages were hit by flash floods since 3am on Saturday. However the water started to recede towards evening with none of the villagers having to evacuate. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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