Flood situation in Johor sees surge with 31 temporary relief centres opened for 2,757 victims

JOHOR BARU, Jan 30 — The number of flood victims in Johor reported a slight increase of 164 people within a four-hour period due to adverse weather conditions today.

This brings the total to 2,757 victims from 774 families who are currently placed in 31 temporary flood relief centres (PPS) in the state as of 8am.

Johor state secretary Tan Sri Azmi Rohani said the latest figure showed a slight increase compared to 2,593 people from 731 families placed in 31 PPS at 4am earlier.

He said the districts that are still affected by the floods include Mersing, Kluang, Kota Tinggi, Batu Pahat, Segamat and Tangkak.

“The latest development before midnight saw a new PPS opened at 11.30pm in Sekolah Kebangsaan Teluk Ramunia within the Kota Tinggi district.

“A total of 30 victims from 12 families were evacuated from their homes to the PPS,” he said in a statement today.

Azmi, who is also the State Disaster Management Committee chairman, said Batu Pahat is currently the district with the highest number of flood victims.

He added that the latest figure of registered flood victims from the district stood at 946 people from 266 families who are placed in eight PPS.

“The next district is Mersing with 829 people from 243 families in six PPS, followed by Kota Tinggi with 453 people from 117 families in nine PPS.

“In Kluang, the district registered 422 flood victims from 117 families in three PPS, while in Segamat there are 92 people from 28 families in four PPS.

“For Tangkak, the situation remained unchanged with 15 flood victims from three families sheltered in one PPS,” said Azmi.

In a related development, Azmi said the Public Works Department (PWD) advised motorists in Mersing that Jalan Tanah Abang and the first stretch of the road will remain closed due to water levels that have risen to a height of 1m.

He added that Jalan Belukar Juling and Jalan Endau Penyabong, which were flooded with water levels of 0.4m to 0.1m, were accessible for heavy vehicles only.

“In Kota Tinggi, the Jalan Mawai Lama stretch is also open for only heavy vehicles after floods hit the area with water levels of 0.35m.

“For Kluang, Jalan Kahang Barat is now open for both heavy and light vehicles, while in Kulai, the Jalan Sungai Tiram-Ulu Tebrau stretch has remained closed to all vehicles due to landslides,” he said.

Azmi said the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) has also issued an advisory that Sungai Endau in Mersing has now recorded a high warning level of 2.90m, which is above the danger mark of 2.20m.

“For Segamat, the Sungai Muar in Buloh Kasap is also reported to be at the high warning level with a reading of 8.95m.

“In Batu Pahat, the rivers of Sungai Bekok and Sungai Sembrong are also reported to be at a high warning level which is now reaching 18.52m and 11.05m respectively,” said Azmi.