JOHOR BAHRU: Continuous heavy rain for the past two days have seen the number of flood victims in Johor rise dramatically with 3,835 people from 1,054 families being evacuated from their homes as of 8am today.
Government, Urban Well-being and Environment Committee chairman Tan Chen Choon said the number of victims had increased from 2,853 from 770 families last night.
He said heavy rain had also caused floods in Batu Pahat, bringing the number of affected districts to seven.
The victims are being housed in 52 temporary evacuation centres, 13 of which are in Kota Tinggi, 10 in Mersing, 20 in Kluang, six in Segamat and one each in Kulai, Muar and Batu Pahat.
“The Mersing district recorded the highest number of evacuees at 1,262 from 352 families, followed by Kota Tinggi with 1,071 people from 267 families,” he said in a statement here today.
The Malaysian Meteorological Department had issued a red (danger) weather warning for Mersing and Kota Tinggi, an orange (severe) warning for Segamat, Muar, Batu Pahat, Kluang, Pontian, Kulai and Johor Bahru, and a yellow (alert) warning for Tangkak.
In Rompin, Pahang, the floods have taken a turn for the worse with 681 people from 176 families evacuated as of 7am, compared to 345 people from 92 families last night.
The Social Welfare Department’s Disaster Info Portal reported that three more temporary evacuation centres were opened last night, bringing the number in the district to nine.
“The three new relief centres are at SK Sarang Tiong, which houses 66 victims from 12 families, Rompin Weightlifting hall (42 victims from 10 families) and Bukit Lepas community hall (33 victims from eight families),” it said.
Several low-lying areas in Rompin have been flooded since yesterday following heavy rain.
Pahang Civil Defence Force director Zainal Yusoff said three roads in Rompin – Jalan Kampung Denai, Jalan Kampung Sungai Mok and Jalan Lubuk Batu – had been closed to traffic since 11pm yesterday.