KUCHING, Feb 5 — The number of evacuees in the third wave of floods to hit Sarawak since last Tuesday has risen to 1,056 people this evening, compared to 985 in the morning.
The Sarawak State Disaster Management Committee (JPBN) Secretariat in its latest report said 18 relief centres (PPS) were still operating as of 4pm, namely one in the Tatau district, Simunjan (four), Samarahan (two) and Serian (11).
Serian, which is located about 60 kilometres from Kuching city centre, remains the worst affected district, with 766 evacuees recorded so far.
Meanwhile, the flood situation in Kampung Hulu Serian has worsened with 78 people including two senior citizens and 18 children from 28 families housed at the Serian Community Hall.
Its Information Technology Bureau head Yushairi Raduan said the situation is expected to worsen further following incessant rain for the past two days.
“If the heavy rainfall continues tonight or tomorrow, the flood water level will continue to rise for several days until the weather improves,” he told Bernama while inspecting the village.
He said the village had also been hit hard by floods in 2016, which affected almost 600 villagers from over 200 houses.
Checks by Bernama at the scene found that most of the houses were flooded, while several families were still living on the upper floor of their homes.
Also inundated were the community hall, surau, cemetery, and several vehicles that could not be moved by their owners in time.
Kampung Munggu Limo, situated next to Kampung Hulu Serian, was also flooded due to the heavy downpour. — Bernama
