Malaysia: Flood situation worsens in Beaufort

MUGUNTAN VANAR The Star 21 Jan 15;

KOTA KINABALU: The flood situation in southwestern Sabah worsened following overnight rains and high tide with more people being evacuated in flood-prone Beaufort and parts of Tenom, Sipitang and Papar.
Nearly a thousand people were evacuated as weather conditions remained bad early on Wednesday) though officials expect water levels to drop with the receding sea tide.

Sipitang became the latest district to be hit with some 78 people in low-lying kampungs evacuated while river currents amid a heavy downpour knocked down a wooden customs jetty in the town area.

Sipitang police chief Deputy Supt Mustafa Osma said that the situation was improving as the floods waters were flowing out to sea with the receding tides.

“The evacuated people might be heading back home later today,’’ he said, adding that police and other agencies were monitoring the situation in Sipitang.

When contacted, neighbouring Beaufort district officer Mohd Shaid Othman said that some 100 more people were being evacuated overnight in the low lying villagers as there were little signs of the weather improving.

“As of now, we have 800 people in evacuation centres in Beaufort and Membakut and more are coming in,’’ he said, adding that the Padas river remains at danger level.

At least a dozen schools remained closed in the affected areas and several roads mainly to the kampungs were impassable for light traffic while businesses in smaller towns of Bongowan and Membakut that hit by floods remained close.

Flood situation remains critical in Beaufort
The Star 22 Jan 15;

KOTA KINABALU: Floods in Sabah's low lying south western Beaufort district is still critical. The number of evacuees continue to increase even as schools and businesses remain closed for a second day.

Apart from Beaufort, parts of neighbouring Tenom, Sipitang and Papar districts were also affected by the floods which was triggered by heavy rains and compounded by high tide on Tuesday night.

A total of 33 primary and two secondary schools were closed in Beaufort, Papar and Sipitang. Some 5,455 students and 885 staff were affected.

Electricity supply has also been cut to areas where waters have submerged its substation.

Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) has set up a 24-hour emergency room to monitor the situation.

There has been no report of casualties although a Customs jetty in Sipitang collapsed yesterday due to strong currents.

Beaufort district officer Mohd Shaid Othman said 1,077 people were evacuated so far from villages near Beaufort as well as Membakut as of 3pm yesterday.

“The situation is still bad. Beaufort town itself is under about a metre of water while in some areas, the water levels are up to 2.5m. Membakut town is also flooded,” he said, adding that they remain on high alert as the Padas river had burst its banks.

He said over a dozen roads, mainly into villages were impassable.

Some 300 people were also evacuated in Tenom where four relief centres have been opened.

In Sipitang, however, some 78 villagers who were evacuated yesterday, have started to return home as the flood waters have receded.


Floods: Over 5,000 Health Ministry staff affected
LOH FOON FONG The Star 22 Jan 15;

PUTRAJAYA: More than 5,000 Health Ministry staff were affected by the recent massive floods in the east coast states with losses to health facilities estimated at RM387mil.

Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam said some of the staff's houses were swept away or inundated and most of their belongings were destroyed.

“Some of them moved to evacuation centres while others stayed with relatives.

“Despite our predicament, we still have to continue providing services to the people,” he said when launching a fund for the affected employees.

Dr Subramaniam started the fund rolling with a donation of RM10,000. His deputy, Datuk Seri Dr Hilmi Yahaya, contributed RM7,000.

The floods, which started on Dec 26, were the worst in recent history to have hit the east coast and Perak.

Dr Subramaniam said the ministry could not contact 60% of its staff at the peak of the floods in Kelantan due to communication and transport breakdown. Many were trapped in hospitals or clinics.

He thanked the staff who worked relentlessly to care for patients and also saved millions of ringgit worth of equipment and medicine from being destroyed.

He said the staff worked in a spirit of togetherness, including specialists who turned up in shorts and boots to clean clinics and hospitals.

So far, he said, 15 community clinics were destroyed while four hospitals, 108 clinics and one health office were badly damaged. Losses were estimated at RM387mil.

Dr Subramaniam said the number of confirmed leptospirosis and melioidosis infections – reported to be 126 and 20 respectively from Jan 1 to 22 – was still worrying.

In view of the cost-cutting measures that the Prime Minister announced recently, the ministry had to reduce its operations expenditure by about RM500,000, he said.

Floods: 126 leptospirosis infections recorded in flood-hit states
A. AZIM IDRIS New Straits Times 21 Jan 15;

PUTRAJAYA: Health Minister Datuk Seri S. Subramaniam said 753 suspected leptospirosis infections with 126 confirmed cases were recorded from Jan 1 in the flood-hit states.

He said there are also increases in other diseases such as acute gastroenteritis, other diarrheal diseases and upper respiratory tract infections among flood victims.

Subramaniam also said that there are 20 confirmed melioidosis cases recorded at the flood affected places.

“We are increasing our public education and awareness, and public hygiene campaigns so that they (flood victims) drink only boiled water and eat well-cooked food.

“We want them to also take precautionary measures such as wearing boots and gloves when cleaning their premises,” he told a press conference at the ministry here.

Subramaniam said the ministry will continue to monitor the affected areas to prevent the diseases from spreading further.