Malaysia: Floods force evacuation of almost 3,000 in four states

The Star/Asia News Network AsiaOne 26 Dec 11;

KUALA LUMPUR: More people have been evacuated due to floods in Johor, Pahang and Sabah, while Sarawak was hit by floods Sunday night.

The total number of evacuees as at 10am Monday was 2,734, of whom 1,437 were in Johor, 946 in Pahang and 351 in Sabah. Seven families have been moved out in Sarawak.

In Johor, 300 more people were evacuated overnight to bring the total to 1,437.

The National Security Council portal reported that evacuees were being accommodated at 25 relief centres, 12 of them in Segamat, seven in Mersing and six in Batu Pahat.

It reported that the earth road leading to the Orang Asli village of Peta in the Endau-Rompin National Park was reportedly submerged by floods and the settlement can be reached only by boat or air.

According to the portal of the Drainage and Irrigation Department, the levels of two rivers remain above the danger point. The level of Sungai Muar in Bukit Kepong is 3.34m and in Buloh Kasap, Segamat, 9.47m.

The levels of rivers in other places are above the warning point, namely Sungai Bekok at the Bekok Dam in Batu Pahat (17.04m), Sungai Muar in Kampung Awat, Segamat (19.92m), Sungai Simpang Kiri in Seri Medan, Batu Pahat (2.19m), Sungai Senggarang, Batu Pahat (3.28m) and Sungai Lenik in Chaah Estate, Batu Pahat (5.60m).

In Pahang, the number of evacuees in the Rompin district rose to 946 from 618 overnight, according to a spokesman of the Pahang Police Flood Operations Room.

He said one more relief centre was opened Sunday night at SK Sarang Tiong, to house 137 evacuees, raising the number of relief centres to five.

"Some 422 evacuees are accommodated at SK Pianggu, 247 at the Teluk Gading hall, 119 at the Bukit Serok centre (119) and 21 at the Kampung Rekoh community hall," he said, adding that all the evacuees were from 13 villages in the district.

The spokesman also said the severed road link to the Mentelong and Denai villages was restored late Sunday evening.

In Sabah, the number of evacuees from Kampung Gum Gum in Sandakan rose to 351 from 341 overnight, said a spokesman of the Sandakan Municipal Council flood operations centre.

He said two more families were moved out after it was feared that their houses would be flooded at any time.

All the evacuees are being housed at the Gum Gum multi-purpose hall at Batu 16, he said.

The spokesman said the Sandakan district was experiencing intermittent to heavy rain.

In Sarawak, seven families were evacuated after several low-lying areas in the Samarahan Division were hit by floods Sunday night, after heavy rain over the past two days and very high tides, said a spokesman of the state operations room.

He said the two affected villages were Kampung Asajaya Hulu and Kampung Serpan Ulu.

"According to a report of the Samarahan district office, seven families have been moved out of their homes," he said.

He also said people in other low-lying areas have been advised to evacuate if the floodwaters continued to rise.

Several village roads were flooded Sunday night but major roads were passable to traffic, he added

More evacuated due to floods
The Star 27 Dec 11;

PETALING JAYA: More people have been evacuated due to floods in Johor, Pahang and Sabah.

In JOHOR, the flood situation in several districts saw 1,236 victims from 313 families being housed at 19 flood-relief centres.

As at 4pm, Mersing still has the highest number of evacuees with 679 victims, followed by Segamat (388) and Batu Pahat (151).

However, the flood relief centres in Pontian and Kluang have been closed as at 12pm and 2pm respectively, on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the National Security Council portal reported that the earth road leading to the orang asli village of Peta in Endau-Rompin National Park is still under water and the settlement can be reached only by boat or plane.

In PAHANG, the number of evacuees in the Rompin district has risen to 946 from 618 overnight, according to a spokesman from the state police flood operations room.

He said one more relief centre was opened last night at SK Sarang Tiong to house 137 evacuees, raising the number of relief centres to five.

“Some 422 evacuees are being put up at SK Pianggu, 247 at the Teluk Gading hall, 119 at the Bukit Serok centre and 21 at the Kampung Rekoh community hall,” he added.

In SABAH, the number of evacuees from Kampung Gum Gum in Sandakan rose to 351 yesterday morning from 341 on Sunday night, said a spokesman from the Sandakan Municipal Council flood operations centre.

All the evacuees are being housed at the Gum Gum multipurpose hall at Batu 16, he said.

In KELANTAN, 40 families from six villages living along the coastal areas of Bachok were forced to keep awake for more than eight hours on Sunday night due to high tides, strong winds and huge waves, Bernama reported.

Residents of Kampung Pantai Damak, Kampung Perupuk, Kampung Kubang Golok, Bachok old city near Pantai Irama, Kampung Tok Burung and Kampung Tanjung Chat said their houses were submerged in 0.2m to 0.4m of sea water.

3,800 flee flood-hit homes in Malaysia
Straits Times 27 Dec 11;

KUALA LUMPUR: Floods forced some 3,800 people to flee their homes in parts of Malaysia yesterday, as the country continued its battle against the year-end monsoon rain.

The authorities said that 1,236 evacuees were from the southern state of Johor, 625 were from Pahang, and 351 were from the East Malaysian state of Sabah.

About 1,600 people in Sarawak were also moved out yesterday after floods struck on Sunday night.

The National Security Council said the evacuees in Johor had been given shelter at 18 relief centres.

The council reported that the earth road leading to the orang asli village of Peta in the Endau-Rompin National Park - where 21 Singaporean tourists were trapped and rescued last week - had been submerged by floods.

By late afternoon yesterday, some rivers in Johor had reportedly breached their danger points.

Malaysia has been bracing itself for the north-east monsoon, which was expected to cause heavy rainfall across the country from last month.

Since early this month, floods have caused massive traffic jams in Kuala Lumpur. Up north in Kelantan, at least seven flood deaths have been reported since last month.

Meanwhile, in the Philippines, more bodies have washed ashore after tropical storm Washi sent torrents of water, mud and logs cascading through riverside and coastal villages on Mindanao island in the middle of this month.

Fishermen joined Philippine navy sailors, police and firefighters in an ever wider search for bodies from entire villages swept away in one of the country's worst natural disasters.

The storm destroyed more than 10,000 houses and displaced more than 300,000 people who are now mostly in emergency shelters.

Nearly 1,100 had been reported missing, officials said yesterday. The death toll as of yesterday stood at 1,249, with about two-thirds of the bodies unidentified.

With more bodies found floating farther away, Office of Civil Defence head Benito Ramos said the authorities sought the help of fishermen to scour the sea.

'We've stopped counting the missing. There are no accurate figures,' he said. 'Those recovered, we don't know who they are. We have a system in place so that families can claim them later, based on fingerprints and dental records.'

President Benigno Aquino, who banned logging in February following previous flooding deaths that experts say were caused partly by deforestation and soil erosion, has ordered an investigation.

ASSOCIATED PRESS, REUTERS, THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK