KUALA TERENGGANU, Jan 6 — Floods have struck three districts in Terengganu, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of people overnight and requiring two schools to send home nearly 1,000 students today and two other schools to move their students to safer buildings.
A spokesman of the National Security Council in the state said that as at 9am, five relief centres had been opened, four in Hulu Terengganu and one in Setiu.
“The people were moved to the relief centres overnight as the floodwaters entered their homes,” he told Bernama Thursday.
In Hulu Terengganu, 500 people from the Tersat and Hulu Telemong mukims had been evacuated.
The four relief centres in Hulu Terengganu are at the Kampung Pengkalan Ajal community hall, Kampung Sekayu community hall and mosque, Kampung Menjing community hall and Kampung Baru, Pasir Dua, surau.
In the Setiu district, 78 people from Kampung Merbau Menyusup had been evacuated to the relief centre at the village mosque, he said.
He also said that two village roads in Hulu Terengganu had been closed to traffic after they were flooded by up to a metre. They are Jalan Kuala Brang-Sungai Tong between Km11 and Km12 in Kampung Kuala Ping and Jalan Kuala Brang-Sungai Tong near Kampung Palong Kuala Jenerih.
The Kuala Brang and Setiu rivers were rising and had breached the alert level at places, he said, adding that the Dungun river at the Jerangau Bridge was at the danger level of 21.5 metres.
In the Besut district, 37 people were evacuated overnight and two schools had to send home nearly 1,000 students today and two other schools had to move their students to safer buildings.
A spokesman of the Besut police flood operations room said today the 37 people were evacuated from Kampung La in Hulu Besut after their houses were flooded last night.
He said Sekolah Kebangsaan Bukit Puteri and Sekolah Kebangsaan Tok Raja in the Jerteh state constituency sent back their students after floodwaters rose to between 0.2 and 0.6 metres at the schools this morning.
Students at Sekolah Kebangsaan Alor Peroi near Kuala Besut and Sekolah Kebangsaan Gong Bayor in Kota Putera were moved to safer buildings in the schools when floodwaters rose there as well, he added.
The spokesman said Sungai La had risen above the alert level at two flood-assessing points as at 9am today.
A check by Bernama revealed that roads in the district were passable to all vehicles although stretches between Seberang Jerteh and Kuala Besut were flooded.
— BERNAMA
