KOTA KINABALU, Jan 18 (NNN-BERNAMA) — The flood situation in the eastern Malaysian state fo Sabah on the island of Borneo has continued to woesen with thousands of people evacuated from their homes to flood relief centres.

In Kota Marudu district, northeast of here, heavy rain which had persisted from Thursday, forced an estimated 1,600 people to be evacuated and placed at relief centres, says the Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation and the area Member of Parliament, Dr Maximus Ongkili.

The situation has also worsened in Telupid and Kinabatangsan districts on the East Coast of Sabah, near the state’s second city of Sandakan, where the number of flood evacuees has risen to 1,362 by Sunday evening from 951 in the morning.

In Kota Marudu, the authorities, led by the district office, have set up a disaster relief committee and placed flood victims at seven evacuation centres and eight shelter homes, Ongkili told the media on Sunday.

“About 330 families have been evacuated while 30 villages have been cut off from road access because of the floods, which are a perennial problem in Kota Marudu,” said Ongkili who made his daily rounds visiting the centres and affected areas.

He added that if the situation persisted, food assistance would have to be provided for individual families who were cut off since those living in inaccessible areas would have been unable to go to town for their provisions.

State Secretary Sukarti Wakiman, the state’s top civilian official who is also the state disaster relief chairman, together with National Security Bureau Crisis and Disaster Management Directorate director Che Moin Umar, also visited the disaster relief operations room at the district office.

In Telupid, the Flood Operations Control Centre spokesperson, Rozita Daha, said of the total number of evacuees, those from the villages of Kiabau, Ansuan, Bauto, Baba, Buis and Telupid town, who were among the worst affected, accounted for 1,232.

She added that roads to Kiabau, Buis, Ansuan and Bauto had been cut off by flood waters as the water level of the Labuk River continued to rise.

“Rescue operations carried out by the Fire and Rescue Department, Marine Police and the Civil Defence Department, managed to evacuate those affected in the areas,” she told Bernama.

Meanwhile, the Kinabatangan Flood Operations Control Centre spokesman said the level of the Kinabatangan River, Malaysia’s second longest river, had exceeded the danger point of 9.85 metres and stood at 10.6 m.

The Telupid-Sandakan road at Km 51 was also flooded and can only be used by four-wheel drive and heavy vehicles. — NNN-BERNAMA

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