KUCHING, Jan 18 — Several areas in Kuching, Kota Samarahan, Mukah and Limbang have been hit by floods following non-stop rain the last two days.

Deputy Secretary of the Sarawak National Security Council deputy secretary, Salihin Annuar, when contacted this afternoon, said that as of 6pm, in Kuching, 26 families had been moved to three flood evacuation centres.

He said 63 people from 29 families from around Balingian and Rh Jinjap had been moved to the evacuation centre in Sekolah Kebangsaan Kuala Balingian.

In KUCHING, among the areas which were flooded by up to one metre of water since early this morning were Batu Lintang, Batu Kawa, Rantau Panjang and Sungai Tengah while in Kota Samarahan, the overflow of river water led to several areas being flooded.

Sarawak Civil Defence Department director Lt Kol (PA) Mokhtar Samat said its staff had been placed in various locations since yesterday and were on 24-hour patrol.

He said as of 6pm, in Limbang, 224 victims had been evacuated to relief centres.

Padawan District Senior Administrative Officer, Rangen Jamang, when contacted, said 130 people from 30 families were moved to the flood evacuation centre in Sekolah St Peter Simpok this afternoon when the water level rose in several places in Kampung Simpok.

In KUALA LUMPUR, Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Rohani Karim said she had given a briefing to women leaders in Sarawak on the floods which could hit the state, due to the high tide phenomenon.

“The high tide is expected to start from January 19 (tomorrow), but there are fears that the phenomenon may start earlier and cause floods. So I have informed them to be ready at all times for the floods to happen and follow orders to evacuate,” she said.

She said Sarawak had prepared 603 flood evacuation centres and the public had been advised to quickly evacuate to the registered centres when the order to do so was issued.

In PERAK, a National Security Council (MKN) spokesman said the number of flood victims dropped to 158 people from 50 families compared to 267 from 83 families at noon.

He said the number of victims in Perak Tengah went down to 39 while in Hilir Perak it was 85 and 34 in Hulu Perak.

Four evacuation centres remained open in the three districts.

In KELANTAN, a spokesman of the state MKN said as of 4pm, 472 victims from 103 families were still at 12 evacuation centres in Kuala Krai.

In Machang, 30 people from eight families are still staying at the Sekolah Kebangsaan Temangan evacuation centre. — Bernama