JOHOR BARU, Dec 3 — As floodwaters rose in Mersing, 1,035 residents involving 306 families had to temporarily take shelter at evacuation centres.

Mersing district police chief DSP Zulkifli Hashim said the victims were from 16 villages, including Kampung Air Tawar, Kampung Lubuk, Felcra Sri Mahkota Endau, Semaloi and Kampung Bukit Pasir.

"Also affected were Kampung Tenglu Besar, Kampung Air Papan, Kampung Orang Asli Labung, Kampung Peta, Kampung Air Merah, Kampung Wak Salam, Jalan Sekakap, Kampung Che Wok, Kampung Sawah Datuk, Kampung Makam and Kampung Paya Tunggal," he said when contacted here.

Zulkifli said rain was still falling and the rising tide had caused the water to rise to 3.3 metres as at 9.30pm.

He said the roads at KM7 Jalan Nitar-Mersing, KM32 and KM35 Jalan Mersing-Kota Tinggi could only be accessed by heavy-duty vehicles.

He said the district operations room was monitoring the situation while the rescue team involving various agencies were evacuating the residents to safer ground.

Meanwhile in Kuala Terengganu, 20 victims from five families have been moved from their low-lying residence in Kemaman to three evacuation centres.

According to the National Security Council portal, 16 of them were placed at Sekolah Kebangsaan Telok Kalong, three at Masjid Batu 16 and one at Dewan Serbaguna Kampung Batu 14. — Bernama