Floods: 8 schools ordered to close
Published on: Wednesday, May 11, 2022
The damaged road leading to SK Kuala Tomani, Tenom.
Kota Kinabalu: Eight schools in three districts in Sabah have been ordered to close due to flood following continuous heavy rain in the affected areas since Monday, said State Education director Datuk Dr Mistirine Radin.She said three of the schools are in Beaufort, namely Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) St Paul, Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Lago and SK Bukau; four schools are in Tenom – SK Gumisi, SK Ladong Sapong, Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina Yuk Syn, and SK Inubai, while the other is SK Tombovo in Penampang.
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All the schools are temporarily closed and it involves a total of 204 teachers and 2,425 students,“ she said in a statement.
She said students will continue with their lessons through the home-based learning and teaching (PdPR) method until the situation improved and safe for them to return to school.
She said authorities were hoping that classes could resume by tomorrow, as cleanup and other related activities have been carried out.
The Malaysian Meteorological Department issued a warning that thunderstorms, heavy rain, and strong winds are expected for Tawau and Sandakan (Kinabatangan and Sandakan) until 2pm Tuesday.
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Beaufort and Tenom were hit by floods over the past few days and 100 people from 31 families have been evacuated from Tenom.
A total of 49 villages in Beaufort and Tenom are flooded following several hours of heavy rain since Monday afternoon.
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The Sabah State Disaster Management Committee, in a statement, said the floods affected 36 villages in Beaufort and 13 villages in Tenom.
“Heavy rain which started about 1.30 pm Monday and lasted until midnight caused the water level in Sungai Padas and Sungai Pegalan to rise,” it said, adding that the weather in Beaufort this morning was fine, while it was cloudy in Tenom.
It said no evacuation centre had been opened in Beaufort so far this morning.
However, four evacuation centers have been opened in Tenom as a precautionary measure, namely in Kampung Mandalalom, Kampung Ponontomon, Kampung Kanar and at Dewan Jinuin Jimin, it said.
The floods also caused several roads to be under water, including Jalan Simpang 4 Chan Furniture which has been closed to all vehicles.
However, Jalan Kampung Binunuk, Jalan Kampung Balibata, Jalan Kampung Laboi and Jalan Kampung Suasa can only be opened to heavy vehicles.
The Sabah Public Works Department, in a separate statement, said a landslide occurred at KM36.2 Jalan Tenom Kuala Tomani, in the Tenom district.
“The road is is closed and road users are advised to use alternative roads, namely Jalan Kuala Tomani Marais, Jalan Kalibatang Baru and Jalan Marais,” it said.
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