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KUALA LUMPUR- More than 48,000 people in six Malaysian states took refuge in 400 aid centers on Friday (January 8) to escape mounting floods as monsoon rain continued to hit parts of the country.
The number of evacuees has more than doubled from the 20,575 people reported Wednesday morning.
In addition to those evacuated in the east coast states of Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang, and eastern Johor, several dozen people were evacuated from rural areas in the states of Perak and Sabah, Bernama news agency reported.
At least five deaths have been reported due to the annual monsoon season, which usually begins in November and lasts for about four months.
The latest victim was a 20-year-old man, who fell from a boat Thursday while helping flood victims to move to a shelter in Kuala Krai, Kelantan.
Pahang, Peninsular Malaysia’s largest state by size, has been hit hardest in the current rainy season, with many of its large rivers swollen by torrential rains.
27,073 evacuees were housed in 275 temporary aid centers in nine districts of Pahang, Bernama reported.
Anih Bhd, East Coast Expressway (ECE) Phase 1 concessionaire, said some sections of the road were still impassable for vehicles.
The ECE is the main highway linking the states of Terengganu and Pahang with Kuala Lumpur.
In neighboring Terengganu state, flood victims totaled 12,899 people on Friday morning at 50 relief centers, more than 8,138 evacuated on Thursday afternoon.
The northeastern state of Kelantan has 6,319 people in aid centers on Friday morning at 74 aid centers.
The number of people at the aid centers in Johor at 8am on Friday was 1,276, less than in recent days.
The chairman of the Johor health and environment committee, R. Vidyananthan, said they are located in 14 shelters, while two aid centers have closed due to improving weather conditions, Bernama reported.
There were 359 people in the Perak relief centers and 35 evacuees in Sabah.
Meanwhile, the Singapore Red Cross (SRC) said it would contribute $ 50,000 to support the Malaysian Red Crescent Society’s relief and recovery operations.
The funds will go to support the thousands of families in 303 aid centers. This would include the distribution of food, first aid kits, hygiene kits and psychosocial support, assistance with vouchers to affected families in Johor, Pahang and Kelantan, the SRC said in a statement on Friday.
It has also activated its “Restoring Family Links” service to help Singaporeans and others locate their immediate family members who may have been affected by the disaster with whom they are having difficulty communicating.
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