KUCHING: The number of flood victims in Sarawak has increased almost twofold from 577 on Thursday (Feb 4) to 1,056 as of 4pm today (Feb 5).
These victims from 340 families, affected by the third wave of floods that hit Sarawak since last Tuesday (Feb 2), were evacuated to 18 temporary evacuation centres (PPS) in Tatau, Simunjan, Samarahan and Serian districts.
Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) secretariat chief Major Ismail Mahedin said Serian Division recorded the highest number of flood victims at 766 victims from 248 families.
“Three out of 11 PPS in Serian, namely, Serian Community Hall, SK St Patricks Tangga and Balai Raya Babuk Bandar Ranchan are showing an increasing number of evacuees.
“Although only PPS of SK Tanah Puteh reported a decline in number of evacuees, the centre still records the highest number of flood victims at 275, followed by Serian Community Hall at 141 and Kampung Rimba Padi Hall at 75,” he said in a statement today (Feb 5).
The 11 PPS in Serian are SK Tebakang Hall, Kampung Slabi Entukuh Hall, Buk Janjun Hall, SK Tanah Puteh, Kampung Lintang Baru Hall, Serian Community Hall, Kampung Rimba Padi Hall, SK St Patricks Tangga, Balai Raya Betong Kanowit, Balai Raya Babuk Bandar Ranchan and Ranchan Multipurpose Hall.
Ismail further said a total of 230 victims from 77 families were placed in four PPS in Simunjan district namely, Mesra Simunjan Hall with 94 victims, Kampung Seruyuk Mosque (70), Kampung Entangor Hall (39) and Lubok Buntin Community Hall (27).
“In Samarahan district, 37 victims from eight families were placed in Kota Samarahan Civic Centre while 15 victims from five families were placed in Kampung Bangka Semong Multipurpose Hall,” he added.
Meanwhile, floods also occurred in Bintulu Division where eight victims from two families were evacuated at the Tatau Sports Hall in Tatau district.
According to Malaysian Meteorological Department (MET), the continuous heavy rain for the past few days in Kuching, Serian and Samarahan divisions was expected to end last night (Feb 5) while other divisions like Sri Aman, Betong, Sarikei, Sibu, Mukah, Kapit and Bintulu will experience heavy rain.
