Floods in five districts in Johor: 1,210 people evacuated

JOHOR BAHRU, June 21  -- Floods hit five districts in Johor following a few hours of heavy rain last night, forcing 1,210 people from 288 families to be evacuated until 8 am today.

State Health and Environment Committee chairman R. Vidyananthan said the five affected districts were Muar, Batu Pahat, Tangkak, Kluang and Pontian.

The victims were evacuated to 18 flood relief centres, he said in a statement today.

He said Pontian recorded the highest number of victims, totaling  349 people (85 families), and they were being accommodated at four relief centres, namely Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Seri Bukit Panjang, SK Parit Hj Adnan, SK Kampung Sawah and SK Seri Bunian.

In Batu Pahat, it involved 343 evacuees (75 families) at three relief centres, namely SK Agama Air Putih, Balai Raya Kampung Peserai and Sekolah Agama Tiga Serangkai.

In Muar, five relief centres have been opened to accommodate  276 flood evacuees, involving 65 families. They are Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Bandar Maharani, SK Parit Nawi, SK Tanjung Tohor, SK Orang Kaya Ali and SK Batu 18.

Also evacuated were 207 people (59 families) in Kluang and they were accommodated at four relief centres in the district, namely SK Simpang, SK Sri Kencana Simpang Renggam, SMK Dato Abdul Rahman Andak and Sekolah Agama Komplek Penghulu.

Another district affected by the flood is Tangkak, where 35 people from four families had been evacuated to the relief centres at SK Parit Bunga and SK Tanjung Gading 5.

-- BERNAMA