SHARON LING The Star 23 Feb 16;
KUCHING: The number of flood evacuees in southern Sarawak has decreased to just over 7,000 people on Tuesday morning.
At 8am, a total of 7,177 people from 1,822 families remained in relief centres in Kuching, Serian and Samarahan divisions, compared to 7,965 people from 2,051 families at noon on Monday.
Civil Defence Department public relations officer Siti Huzaimah Ibrahim said they were sheltered in 31 centres in Kuching, 12 in Serian and four in Samarahan.
She also said 10 relief centres had been closed, including eight on Monday and two on Sunday.
River levels have mostly returned to normal, but the Batang Sadong at Serian was still at danger level of 9.69m and Sungai Sarawak Kiri at Batu Kitang at alert level of 3.07m as at 8am on Tuesday.
Dry days bring respite
SHARON LING The Star 23 Feb 16;
KUCHING: Drier weather brought some respite to flood-hit areas in southern Sarawak although nearly 8,000 evacuees remained at relief centres, while some schools were still closed.
At noon yesterday, a total of 7,965 flood victims from 2,051 families were sheltering at 48 relief centres.
Meanwhile, the body of a youth who went missing while crossing a river during the floods in Kampung Maang, Siburan, on Saturday, was found by a search team at 6.15pm yesterday.
Fire and Rescue and Civil Defence personnel found the body of Judus Jalina, 18, about 150m from where he was reported to have fallen although they had recovered his bag and slippers earlier.
The State Disaster Management Committee secretariat said 34 relief centres remained open in Kuching, eight in Serian and six in Samarahan.
State Fire and Rescue Department director Nor Hisham Mohammad said some evacuations were still carried out yesterday although the weather had improved considerably.
He said the department’s personnel evacuated 94 villagers from Kampung Sorak Melayu, Serian, as well as 132 people from Kampung Selampit and 197 people from Kampung Bitokan in Lundu.
“We are monitoring the situation in other flood-affected areas. We also have one team with a lorry attached to the Welfare Department to supply rations to evacuees,” he added.
The state Education Department said 19 schools were closed due to floods yesterday, comprising seven in Bau, nine in Padawan, one in Lundu and two in Lubok Antu.
It also said eight schools in Padawan, Bau, Serian and Samarahan were being used as temporary relief centres.
At a relief centre in Kampung Batu Kitang here, villager Amirul Amin said he was evacuated with nine family members on Saturday afternoon after non-stop rain caused flooding.
“We saw the water rising quickly so we knew we had to move,” he said, adding that the Fire and Rescue personnel helped them to evacuate.
“The flood came all of a sudden. The water kept rising beyond our expectations.
“Together with the village head, we immediately took action to move people to this relief centre on top of a hill,” said Kampung Batu Kitang’s flood management committee member Zat Rosli.
More evacuees return home as Sarawak floodwaters recede
The Star 24 Feb 16;
KUCHING: More flood evacuees left relief centres for their homes Wednesday as the flood-hit areas of Sarawak enjoyed fine weather.
As at 11am, the number of evacuees dropped to 1,643 from 479 families at 10 centres compared to 2,366 from 668 families at 15 centres at 8am, said Sarawak Department of Civil Defence public relations officer Siti Huzaimah Ibrahim.
In the Kuching district, there were 150 evacuees from 16 families at one centre, in Serian, 1,413 from 439 families at eight centres, and in Samarahan, 80 from 24 families at eight centres, she said.
She also said that all 14 relief centres in the Bau district have closed after all the evacuees returned to their homes. - Bernama
