KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 14 — About 10,000 residents in eight villages and one town in Kudat district are affected by floods following continuous heavy rain since yesterday evening.

The affected villages are Kampung Gumpa, Kampung Bak-Bak, Kampung Korina, Kampung Tamalang, Kampung Sikuati, Kampung Barambangon, Kampung Andap Jawa and Kampung Pangaraban, besides Pitas town.

Kudat district officer Sabdin Ibrahim said the floods also caused Jalan Tamalang-Sikuati, the main road connecting Kota Kinabalu to Kudat, impassable to light vehicles.

“The water level has risen from 1.9m to 2.31m, but so far no residents have been evacuated to the relief centres,” he said.

In Pitas, district officer Bubudan Oti Majalu said one relief centre had been opened at Sekolah Kebangsaan Rukom to temporarily house 103 affected residents from 33 families.

“The situation is still under control, but we are cautious as the rain has not stopped and we fear that more areas may be flooded,” he said.

Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) has meanwhile activated its Flood Operations Room in Kudat, Pitas and Sandakan, which will operate round the clock to monitor the flood situation, report the status and to coordinate work related to power supply in the areas concerned.

SESB in a statement announced that electricity supply would only be cut for safety reasons if the floodwaters rose to levels that could endanger people’s lives and damage the electrical wiring systems.

Consumers can channel information to SESB’s hotline at 15454 or 088-515000 for immediate action to be taken by SESB.

Meanwhile, the flood situation in other affected states has not changed much. In PERAK, the number of evacuees dropped slightly to 1,918 (525 families) this evening from 1,940 (536 families) in the afternoon.

A Perak National Security Council (MKN) spokesman said the number of evacuees in Perak Tengah remained at 1,620, while it dropped to 188 in Hilir Perak, and was at 76 in Manjung and 34 in Hulu Perak this evening. They are all housed at 11 relief centres.

In Pahang, a state contingent police headquarters’ Flood Operations Room spokesman said the number of flood evacuees at three relief centres in Temerloh decreased slightly to 830 this evening from 981 in the afternoon.

In Kelantan, a state MKN spokesman said the number of evacuees remained at  1,415 (343 families) at 21 relief centres since afternoon.

In Johor, the State Disaster Operations Control Centre said only one family of five people was still housed at the Kampung Spang Loi community hall in Buloh Kasap, Segamat. — Bernama