Over 8,000 flood victims evacuated in Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur: Flooding has displaced 8,545 people in several states in Malaysia as of Sunday noon.
The worst affected was Kedah state with 8,394 people being housed in 41 flood relief centres, according to the country’s social welfare department.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced 13 million ringgit ($3 million) in aid for victims in Kedah state following a visit to the affected areas late on Saturday, and ordered government officials to monitor flood mitigation projects currently under way to prevent delays, Xinhua news agency reported.
Other affected states include Selangor, Perak and the northern Borneo state of Sarawak.
The number of evacuees in Kota Setar district continued to surge with 3,415 victims in 14 relief centres, as compared to more than 2,000 people sheltering in 12 relief centres on Saturday.
Kubang Pasu is the second worst affected district with 1,870 evacuees in 11 relief centres, followed by Pendang with 1,348 evacuees in eight relief centres, and Pokok Sena with 932 evacuees in five relief centres.
In southern Kedah, the number of evacuees remained at 184 victims sheltering in three relief centres, while in Bandar Baharu, 128 evacuees are still staying in one relief centre.
Meanwhile, there is a slight improvement in Perlis, with the number of evacuees declining by from 100 to 90 victims on Saturday evening.
An update on the Welfare Services Department mobile application as of 9 p.m. on Saturday showed that 80 victims from 24 families are sheltering at the Arau temporary relief centre while the remaining 10 victims from four families are in the Kangar relief centre.
The Meteorological Department had previously warned of heavy continuous rain as the Southwest monsoon season is underway with bad weather expected to persist through September.