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Number of victims in Johor drops to 40,443

KUALA LUMPUR: The flood situation improved slightly this afternoon with the number of evacuees in Johor dropping to 40,443 at 2pm compared to 45,145 this morning.

The death toll remained at three, two in Johor and one in Melaka.

According to the Johor state government portal, www.johordt.gov.my, Segamat remained the district with the most number of evacuees at 19,489 from 4,689 families, followed by Kluang with 7,680 people from 2,044 families.

There are 95 people evacuated in Johor Baharu, 2,374 in Muar, 2,757 in Batu Pahat, 600 in Pontian, 1,781 in Kota Tinggi, 99 in Mersing, 5,305 in Ledang and 263 in Kulaijaya.

Of the 244 centres remained open this afternoon, 89 are in Segamat, Kluang (39), Johor Baharu (3), Muar (22), Batu Pahat (28), Pontian (10), Kota Tinggi (19), Mersing (1), Ledang (29) and Kulaijaya (4).

The roads remained closed in Segamat are Mile 8 of Jalan Muar-Segamat, Sungai Penarah bridge at Km 63 of Jalan Muar-Segamat, Km 196 of Jalan Johor Baharu-Seremban (at Mile 8, Sungai Merlimau) and the road to Felda Redong.

In Kluang, the closure involved Km 79 to Km 81 of Jalan Kluang-Mersing and Km 75 of Jalan Kluang-Jemaluang.

There were heavy rain in the afternoon in Segamat, raising fear the flood situation could worsen later in the night.

The floods also eased slightly in MELAKA, with the number of evacuees dropping to 3,396 this afternoon from 4,543 at 8am.

Melaka flood operations room spokesman said the floods in Jasin had began to subside with only 606 people remaining in relief centres compared to 1,254 this morning.

In Alor Gajah more people were allowed to return home with 1,656 remaining in relief centres compared to 2,163 this morning, he said when contacted.

In Melaka Tengah, however, the number of evacuees rose slightly to 1,134 from 1,128.

The weather in Melaka was fine throughout the morning and in the early afternoon.

The number of evacuees in KUANTAN, however, continued to rise, now at 1,899 people compared to 800 this morning.

A Pahang police spokesman said 12 villages in three districts -- Rompin, Raub and Temerloh -- were affected by the disaster.

There are 1,672 flood victims in Rompin, 139 in Raub and 88 in Temerloh.
In Bentong, 95 victims have been allowed to return home.

Several roads in Bera and Rompin were closed to all vehicles, he said.

The roads are Jalan Ladang Hwali, Jalan Ladang Trading, Jalan Kampung Baru Bukit Ibam, Sungai Gayung bridge, Kampung Lubuk Batu bridge in Rompin and the alternative road from Kampung Pasal to Felda Palong 8 near Muadzam Shah. - BERNAMA / TheStar

Aerial view of the floods in Segamat. Pix by Effendy Rashid.

Mad scramble to leave Labis as floods threaten

LABIS: It was a race against time for motorists when the trunk road from here to Yong Peng reopened to vehicles.

They literally scrambled to leave because rising waters in the river nearby threatened to flood the roads again yesterday.

Media personnel who came here to cover the Tenang by-election and campaigners made up the bulk of those rushing to leave.

Petrol kiosks were full of vehicles, mostly with outstation registration number plates, especially Selangor and the Federal Territory, waiting to fill their tanks for the “escape”.

The trunk road from Labis to Yong Peng was also full of potholes after the flood yesterday.

The signs of an impending flood were evident as flood waters from oil palm plantations lining the road was spilling over to the left lane.

The same situation affected the road from Yong Peng to Labis with water spilling over to the left lane.

But there were hardly any vehicles heading towards Labis which is the stop before Segamat.

Segamat has been the worst hit by the flood and remained inaccessible yesterday.

Journalists from Kuala Lumpur who stayed in Segamat and travelled to Labis daily to cover the by-election had to leave their belongings in Segamat.

Many left Labis for Kuala Lumpur with only the clothes they were wearing and their laptops and mobile phones. - TheStar