395 flood victims placed in 10 temporary evacuation centres in Sabah

A total of 395 Sabah flood victims have been placed at 10 temporary evacuation centres in some of the affected districts in the state.

The State Disaster Management Committee said in a statement that until 2 pm today, three centres in Penampang had been opened to house 54 victims from six families while two were opened in Kota Belud to take in 115 evacuees from 31 families.

"One centre in Tuaran was opened to take in 60 victims from seven families, one was opened in Papar to accommodate 60 evacuees from 20 families while Tenom set up three centres to house 106 people," the statement said.

Ten districts were flooded due to heavy rain yesterday, namely Kota Belud, Tuaran, Putatan, Penampang, Papar, Beaufort, Keningau, Tenom, Kota Marudu and Pitas.

According to the statement, the number of evacuees is expected to increase in some districts as the evacuation and registration of flood victims is still ongoing.

Meanwhile, the Tamparuli Old Bridge, which is an alternative route for residents from the Tamparuli district to go to town, has again been closed to traffic due to the floods which hit Sabah yesterday.

A Bernama survey of the area, however, found that the residents were not badly affected as they could still head to town using Jalan Bontoi.

The 100-metre long bridge is easily submerged whenever it rained heavily.

Other than damaged telephone cables, electricity and water supplies to residents in Tamparuli and Tuaran were also disrupted due to the floods.

-- BERNAMA