Photo: Fire and Rescue Department
The monsoon season is back, along with bouts of strong winds and massive floods.
There have been a string of floods happening in West Malaysia, with authorities predicting more rain in the coming weeks. Johor, Melaka, Pahang, Kelantan, and Terengganu have been affected so far, with over 5,592 flood victims in Johor as of 15 December, an increase from the 4,326 recorded the day before, Straits Times reported.
Tenom, Sabah has become the latest district to fall victim, with severe floods which caused the evacuation of about 1,200 residents from their homes.
The residents were sent to relief centres in the district yesterday.
According to Free Malaysia Today, there were as many as 1,195 people from 370 families in 10 shelters as of 8pm last night. While the floods aren’t a surprise, the number is huge, and we can only hope these families get to return home safely soon.
Three rivers in the district overflowed, causing 13 villages to be affected. The rivers were Sungai Padas, Sungai Pagalan and Sungai Ponontomon, all main waterways in the district.
Photo: Bernama
A spokesperson from the Fire and Rescue Department told Free Malaysia Today that the victims were from villages in the Kemabong and Melalap state constituencies under Tenom.
Sabah, too, isn’t spared.
“It rained heavily in Beaufort from 3am to 6am today,” said Beaufort district officer Jupery Etok, adding that the Selagon temporary relief centre was reopened after being closed on 14 December due to rising water levels.
As of now, only four have been sent to the relief centre but he expects more people to be moved should conditions continue to get worse.
Despite the rain in the Membakut sub-district being not as heavy, Sungai Membakut was still at a dangerous water level, forcing them to practice caution.
Although only four people have been moved to the relief centre, he expected more to be transferred if weather conditions do not improve.
We sure hope the situation gets better real soon!
