KOTA BARU, Jan 13 — The number of flood victims in Kelantan, particularly in Rantau Panjang, rose to 1,423 this morning compared with 1,188 last night.

According to the official portal of the state government, this was due to the continued increase of evacuees in Rantau Panjang to 1,224 compared with 979 last night.

The evacuees, comprising 532 families, were from several villages in Rantau Panjang who were taken to eight relief centres.

In Tanah Merah, the number of evacuees dropped slightly to 199 compared with more than 200 people previously.

They comprised 54 families who were evacuated to five relief centres in Hulu Kusial, Jedok and Bukit Panau.

The water level at Sungai Golok, Rantau Panjang was reported to remain at 10.42 metres, exceeding the danger level of nine metres.

This resulted in the Rantau Panjang duty-free zone to be inundated and light vehicles are advised to avoid the area for the moment.

Two alternative roads, namely Jalan Rantau Panjang to Panglima Bayu heading to Jeli and Jalan Tanah Merah to Kusial have been closed to light traffic temporarily.

The weather in Kelantan is clear.

Meanwhile in Kuantan, the number of flood victims at the evacuation centres in Pahang dropped to 57 compared with 136 yesterday evening.

According to a spokesman of the Flood Operations Room at the Pahang Contingent Police Headquarters, the Lipis district still had 50 evacuees from 13 families from six villages at two relief centres.

He said that in Jerantut, seven victims from two families were still staying at the relief centre at the Kampung Paya Teh Community Hall. — Bernama