KOTA BARU, 29 Nov 2008: One person is feared drowned as floods continued to ravage the east coast states of Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang, sending more than 4,000 people to relief centres and forcing the closure of several major roads.
A 25-year-old man, Nik Li Nik Kob, fell into Sungai Sokor in Tanah Merah, Kelantan, as he was fishing at 2.25pm and was washed away by the floodwaters.
Tanah Merah Fire and Rescue acting officer-in-charge Che Kadir Che Ya said search and rescue efforts had been mounted for Nik Li.
Kelantan, where the Tanah Merah, Kuala Krai and Jeli districts have been hit by the floods, had the highest number of flood evacuees, at 2,397, among the three states as at 7pm.
A spokesperson of the Kelantan flood disaster operations control centre said Jeli had the most number of evacuees at 2,048 while 206 people had been evacuated in Tanah Merah and 143 in Kuala Krai.
He also said that two major roads — Jalan Kota Baharu-Kuala Krai and Jalan Jeli-Dabong — were closed to traffic as stretches were under one metre of floodwaters.
A check by Bernama showed that the access road to Kuala Krai town was closed to light vehicles after the Sungai Durian overflowed and flooded certain stretches of the road to a depth of one metre.
In Jeli, District Officer Serpudin Mohamad said seven evacuation centres had been opened, at Sekolah Kebangsaan Kalai, Sekolah Lubok Bungor, Sekolah Kebangsaan Batu Melintang, Sungai Santan kindergarten, Sekolah Menengah Jeli Lama, Legeh community hall and Sekolah Menengah Ayer Lanas.
In TERENGGANU, 1,743 people have been evacuated. A spokesperson of the Terengganu flood operations room said 954 people had been evacuated in the Besut district, 376 in Hulu Terengganu, 325 in Setiu and 88 in Marang.
“We are monitoring the situation in the other districts as there has been incessant heavy rain,” he said.
He said 10 evacuation centres had been opened in Besut as at 5pm. He said rivers had breached the danger level in Kampung La and at the Jertih Bridge in Besut, touching 22.36 metres (danger level 19.20 metres) and 9.03 metres (8.90 metres), respectively, while the level of Sungai Marang was at 14.26 metres (14 metres).
He said Jalan Kuala Ping-Kuala Berang was closed at Km28. Other roads closed were Jalan Kuala Berang-Sungai Tong and Jalan Kuala Berang-Kampung Kepah, which were under 0.5 to two metres of floodwaters.
In PAHANG, the floods reported in the Temerloh and Cameron Highlands district had resulted in the evacuation of 25 people to relief centres.
A spokesperson of the Pahang police operations room said 12 people had been evacuated to a relief centre in Kampung Kuang, Lanchang, near Temerloh while 13 had been moved out of the Bertam Valley in Cameron Highlands to the Ringlet community hall.
He also said that two roads in the Bera district, Jalan Kampung Orang Asli Chuat and Jalan Kampung Orang Asli Ibam, were closed to light vehicles as they were under one metre of floodwaters at certain stretches. — Bernama
