Roy Goh
KOTA KINABALU: Districts in north of Sabah are on alert as heavy rains brought floods in low lying areas.
In Pitas, District Officer Nahalan Mehdunah has ordered for the district relief operations centre to be activated as of 6am.
“Several hotspots had reached precarious levels prompting the activation of the operations centre. All relevant authorities have been alerted,” he said in a statement.
According to the Civil Defence Department (JPAM), several distress calls were received in the Pitas and Paitan areas.
“A total of 166 villagers have been evacuated to higher grounds or temporary relief centres since late Tuesday and the numbers may likely increase,” a spokesman said.
The relief centres are at Dewan Kubambangan and Dewan Batangon Darat in Pitas as well as Dewan Kusilad, Kampung Sibuang surau and the home of the Kampung Sinansak Batu village chief in Paitan.
Meanwhile, the district fire and rescue department said teams were dispatched to Kampung Sinansak and Kampung Matunggong in Kudat to evacuate villagers from their homes.
“In Matunggong, five families were rescued from their houses which were inundated after rain continued pouring from Tuesday until this morning,” a spokesman said.
Similarly, in Sinansak, a total of 17 people had to be evacuated from their homes, he added.
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
Source link https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2023/01/873308/heavy-rains-bring-floods-north-sabah