Malaysia flood update: Pahang still worst-hit, Kelantan returns to normal

BERNAMA New Straits Times 29 Jan 17;

KOTA BARU: The situation in KELANTAN returned to normal this evening as remaining floodwaters receded, and the last relief centre housing 14 evacuees in Kuala Krai was closed.

According to the ebanjir.kelantan.gov.my website, water levels of most of Kelantan’s main rivers have subsided to the alert or normal level, with the exception of Sungai Golok at Rantau Panjang, which had a reading of 9.26 metres, which is above the danger level of 9.00 metres.

Conversely, in worst-hit PAHANG, the number of flood evacuees stands at 6,187 people (from 1,633 families), being housed at 95 relief centres as of 5pm – although this is a drop from the 6,698 people taking shelter at 98 evacuation centres at noon.

The breakdown of affected districts and victims follows: Temerloh, 2,752 people (from 695 families); Pekan, 1,022 people (from 262 families); Bera, 767 people (from 179 families); Maran, 766 people (from 224 families); Jerantut, 550 people (from 190 families); Lipis, 238 people (from 59 families); and Rompin, 92 victims (from 24 families).

Badly-hit JOHOR has also seen a decrease in the number of victims, with flood evacuees dropping to 1,908 people from 530 families as of 4pm, from 2,304 people at noon. The victims are housed at 30 relief centres in three affected districts - Segamat, Tangkak and Muar.

Meanwhile, seven stretches of roads – encompassing Jalan Pogoh-Tekam, Section 5.2-5.9, Jalan Kuala Paya-Balai Badang, Tumang Batu Anam-plantation area, and Lubuk Lanjut in Segamat – are still closed to traffic.

In Pontian, Jalan Kampung Sungai Pinggan bridge; and in Muar, Km61 of Jalan Muar-Labis and Jalan Pagoh Tekam are still impassable to traffic.

In SELANGOR, the number of flood victims housed at three relief centres in Sabak Bernam dropped to 113 as of 5pm, from 210 at noon.

A Sabak Bernam District Disaster Operations Room spokesman said 43 evacuees (from 12 families) are still housed at Dewan Sri Bernam, Sungai Besar; 41 (from 15 families) are at Dewan Parit Baru, Sungai Air Tawar; and 29 (from eight families) are at Dewan Seri Nakhoda, Bagan Nakhoda Omar.

In PERAK, the number of flood evacuees dropped to 436 as of 5pm, from 467 at noon.

In Hilir Perak, the relief centre at Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Sungai Ara was closed, while 97 evacuees are still at SK Sungai Kerawai, and another 100 are at SK Changkat Jong Batu 8.

In Manjung, 208 evacuees are taking shelter at Sekolah Rendah Agama Rakyat Padang Serai, and 10 are at Dewan Kampung Tanjung Ara.

Finally, 21 evacuees are still being housed at Padang Serai Dalam surau in Larut.

Schools suffer RM10mil in damage from floods
The Star 30 Jan 17;

PADANG TERAP: The damage to school property during the first wave of floods in Kelantan, Terengganu and Sabah in December is estimated to be RM10mil.

The damage caused by the second wave of floods – which affected schools in Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, Johor, Perak and Sabah earlier this month – is still not known, said Education Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid.

He said this was because he had yet to receive a full report on the damage caused by the second wave.

“We expect the total value of damage to be higher for the second wave of floods compared with the first and will take immediate action to repair the affected schools.

“However, we are still unable to repair the damage caused by the first wave although we have sent out allocation warrants to the respective states,” he told reporters after launching the Felda Lubuk Merbau's golden jubilee celebration here yesterday.

Dozens of schools were closed and more than 15,000 students in Kelantan and Terengganu were affected by the recent floods.

Mahdzir, who is also Padang Terap MP, also suggested that a piece of land allocated for teachers’ quarters at Sekolah Kebangsaan Lubuk Merbau, be handed over to Felda.

This, he said, would be for building houses for second generation Felda Lubuk Merbau settlers.

“The quarters were built for the placement of teachers in the 1970s, but with today’s increasingly modern infrastructure many teachers have opted to live outside and it is only occupied by one or two tenants,” he said. — Bernama