ALOR SETAR, Aug 12 — The strong winds in the wake of Friday night’s storm which lashed the northern states of the peninsula damaged 1,536 houses in 12 districts in Kedah.
Kedah Civil Defence Force (CDF) director Lt Col Awang Askandar Ampuan Yaacub said Kuala Muda district was the most affected with 444 houses damaged followed by 260 houses in Kota Setar.
“The record was obtained from the State Disaster Operations Control Centre. There was also nearly 330 cases of uprooted trees,” he told reporters when met at the CDF sacrificial ritual programme here today.
Commenting further, he said cleaning-up operations were being carried out by 139 CDF personnel in Langkawi and Kota Setar districts which were most affected by the storm.
“First we will clean the main roads, after that we will go to the houses with uprooted trees to remove the debris.
“We are acting according to priority with the help of personnel from the District Office, Police, Fire and Rescue Department and the Public Works Department,” he said.
“For now, the Malaysian Meteorological Department is predicting that there will be no second wave of such a storm, but we will still be prepared 24 hours,” he said.
Earlier, MetMalaysia confirmed that Typhoon Lekima, which hit China with a wind speed of 100.8 kilometres per hour, was behind Friday’s disastrous storm that swept across the northern states. — Bernama
