JOHOR BARU - Over 1,000 people have been forced to leave their homes after floods hit various states in Malaysia on Tuesday (Jan 2), with the weatherman predicting more rain to come in the annual north-east monsoon.
Johor, which has suffered heavy downpours since Sunday evening, saw the number of flood victims in Johor rise to 371 people as at Tuesday morning, reported The Star, with most of those affected from the Mersing district.
State Health, Environment, Education and Information committee chairman Ayub Rahmat said 95 families had been evacuated from their homes as at 6am on Tuesday.
"Mersing is currently the worst hit with 337 people seeking shelter at seven flood relief centres," said Datuk Ayub. Another 34 flood evacuees are at relief centres in the Kota Tinggi district.
Meanwhile, three primary schools in the Kluang district were affected by rising flood waters.
Roads leading to two schools - Sekolah Kebangsaan Ladang Mutiara and Sekolah Kebangsaan Seri Sedohok - were cut off by the floods on Tuesday morning, while Sekolah Kebangsaan Punan was completely shut down, said Mr Ayub.
Floods also affected Malaysia's eastern state of Pahang, forcing 11 schools to remain closed on Tuesday, the first day of the new school year.
Pahang acting director of education Tajuddin Mohd Yunus said these schools were located in the districts of Kuantan, Pekan and Jerantut, and were closed because flood waters had inundated their grounds or cut off access roads leading to them.
"In Kuantan alone, nine schools, with over 1,000 students and 140 teachers, were unable to begin the new school year today," said Dr Tajuddin. He said the schools would open after the flood waters receded and that parents would be kept informed of developments.
A total of 677 flood victims were evacuated from Pahang as at Tuesday afternoon, reported national news agency Bernama, with Rompin district bearing the brunt of the rising waters.
Pahang Civil Defence Force director Zainal Yusof said 389 people from 104 families were evacuated to six relief centres in Rompin.
Another 233 people from Dungun, a coastal district in Terengganu, were moved to evacuation centres on Tuesday morning.
People in the east coast of Malaysia are bracing themselves for more flooding after the Kelantan irrigation department warned that floods are expected to strike six districts in the state's river basin at about 1am on Wednesday.
The department's director Kamal Mustapha told Bernama that the affected districts will be Gua Musang, Kuala Krai, Machang, Pasir Mas, Tanah Merah and Tumpat. He said the department came out with the forecast after over 240mm of rain fell in the Gunung Gagau area of Gua Musang over the past two days.
