Sebanyak 31 pusat pemindahan sementara (PPS) dibuka termasuk tujuh di Besut, empat di Dungun, dua di Kemaman dan masing-masing sembilan di Hulu Terengganu dan Setiu bagi menempatkan kesemua mangsa terjejas.

Nadma dalam laporan sama memaklumkan terdapat dua PPS baharu diaktifkan di Kuantan, Pahang membabitkan 164 mangsa daripada 72 keluarga manakala jumlah mangsa banjir di Pasir Puteh,

Kelantan kekal dengan 354 daripada 122 keluarga.

Menurut Nadma, tinjauan situasi Stesen Telemetri Jabatan Pengairan dan Saliran mendapati beberapa sungai di enam negeri berada pada paras bahaya iaitu Sungai Muda di Sik dan Sungai Kedah di Kota Setar (Kedah); Sungai Arau (Perlis); Sungai Besut, Sungai Terengganu (Hulu Terengganu dan Setiu) di Terengganu; Sungai Rompin dan Sungai Pahang Cameron Highlands (Pahang); Sungai Sarang Buaya

(Johor) serta Sungai Kinabatangan (Sabah).

Sebanyak 17 jalan ditutup akibat banjir, jambatan rosak, jalan dan cerun runtuh antaranya Jalan Jamaluang di Batu Pahat, Johor, Jalan Boh di Cameron Highlands, Pahang dan Jalan Sungai Cok-Chucuh Puteri di Kuala Krai, Kelantan.

Setiap kali mendung dan hujan lebat, hatinya pasti berdebar kerana rumah kayu yang didiami sejak 2007 di bawah Program Perumahan Rakyat Termiskin (PPRT) Desa Al-Ayubi di Kampung Temai Hulu sering dilanda banjir akibat limpahan Sungai Pahang yang terletak berhampiran kampung itu.

Keadaan yang berlarutan sejak berbelas tahun itu menyebabkan Zainumar Abu Bakar, 43, tidak lena tidur malam terutama pada musim tengkujuh, ekoran bimbang jika satu-satunya tempat berteduh itu dihanyutkan bah tanpa disedari.

Namun, nasib suri rumah itu mula berubah sejak Febuari tahun lalu apabila beliau dan 11 lagi keluarga di PPRT berkenaan menerima hadiah paling bermakna kurniaan Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah di bawah program Rumah Rakyat Al-Sultan Abdullah (Ru’RASA) berupa sebuah rumah batu bernilai RM100,000.

Rumah yang dibina di kampung berkenaan hasil inisiatif Seri Paduka sendiri bersama Presiden Emiriah Arab Bersatu (UAE), Sheikh Mohamed Zayed Al Nahyan yang menyediakan perumahan yang selesa dengan ciri-ciri keselamatan dalam menangani musibah banjir di beberapa daerah di negeri Pahang, terutama di kawasan sering dilanda banjir.

“Syukur dan lega kerana tahun ini tiada lagi episod ke pusat pemindahan sementara (PPS). Rumah sebelum ini memang sering dinaiki air, malah pernah sehingga ke paras pinggang selain pernah berdepan ‘banjir termenung’ yang menyebabkan kami bermalam selama dua minggu di PPS.

“Saya juga takkan lupa pengalaman apabila sekolah yang menjadi PPS tempat kami berteduh turut dilanda banjir sehingga pasukan penyelamat terpaksa memindahkan kami sekali lagi. Pernah juga berulang-alik ke PPS tiga kali dalam dalam satu musim tengkujuh kerana banjir berulang,” katanya semasa ditemui, baru-baru ini.

Walaupun dilanda kerap banjir

Zainumar, 43, berkata beliau tidak pernah terfikir untuk berpindah atau membina kediaman lebih tinggi disebabkan kurang mampu memandangkan suaminya Abdul Maulut Musa, 43, hanya bekerja kampung dengan pendapatan harian.

Seorang lagi penerima, Mariani Musa, 56, berkata, kurniaan rumah pada usia ini sangat bermakna kerana tidak lagi perlu bertungkus lumus memerah keringat mengemas barang setiap kali air sungai mula melimpah.

“Hendak beli rumah baru memang tidak pernah terlintas kerana ansuran bulanannya. Hendak dibina sendiri, di tanah mana pula boleh menumpang? Jika tiada rumah ini, memang akan terus tinggal di sana (rumah lama) dan hadap banjir selalu.

“Apabila semakin tua semakin penat rasanya hendak mengemas barang, membersihkan rumah selepas banjir. Walaupun dibantu anak-anak, namun terasa juga lelah jika setahun sampai beberapa kali perlu berpindah,” katanya.

Mariani yang meniaga barangan runcit secara kecil-kecilan bagi menampung pendapatan suami, Ahmad Ab Hamid, 66, yang bekerja sendiri berkata, beliau pernah mengalami kerugian besar apabila tidak sempat memindahkan barangan jualannya kerana air naik terlalu cepat.

Mariani juga bersyukur kerana masih ‘ada rezeki’ untuk terus berjiran dengan semua penduduk di PPRT Desa Al-Ayubi kerana beliau merasakan sudah ‘serasi’ dengan kejiranan itu, dengan sikap saling mengambil berat dalam kalangan mereka yang kuat.

“Semuanya saling kenal. Bukan hanya ibu bapa, tapi sampai ke anak cucu kami tahu. Apa-apa berlaku senang untuk saya minta bantuan dan kami juga sudah ‘masak’ dengan sikap semua. Seronok jika kita dapat tinggal di persekitaran yang kita selesa.

“Kalau ada rezeki, saya harap dapat berjumpa dengan Tuanku Agong (Al-Sultan Abdullah) sebab mahu menjunjung kasih kerana Seri Paduka prihatin dengan nasib kami di sini dan rumah ini merupakan hadiah tidak ternilai dan paling bermakna yang pernah saya terima dalam hidup,” katanya.

ASIR PUTEH: The floods that hit several villages here this week were unexpected, with most residents forced to leave their homes unprepared, many only grabbing their personal belongings and documents.

The deluge, following continuous heavy rain since last Monday, forced the evacuation of more than 100 families to the relief centre (PPS) at SK Changgai, Kelantan, on Wednesday.

A stroke patient, Ab Hadi Kadir, 90, said that in less than an hour, the water at his home rose to 0.3m, and not wanting to take the risk, the family decided to evacuate.

“I thought the flood season was over. That’s why I didn’t make any preparations to deal with the flood. But when I saw the water rising and with me being wheelchair-bound, I immediately got the family to evacuate.

“There was no time to think about anything else, (we) just grabbed a few items of clothing and left,” he told Bernama when met at the PPS here yesterday.

Another resident, Noraini Ismail, 45, of Kampung Gaal Hilir, said she moved to the PPS after seeing the floodwaters rising fast.

“Before leaving the house, I placed some of the electrical appliances and furniture in high places and then only brought along the important documents to the PPS,” she added.

Another flood victim, Norasmira Ahmad, 35, from Kampung Batu Hitam, said the floodwaters rose so fast that by the time she returned home after sending her children to school and buying some foodstuff, the road leading to her house was underwater and no longer passable to light vehicles.

According to the Info Bencana portal of the Social Welfare Department, two PPS centres were opened in Pasir Puteh yesterday and were accommodating 350 victims from 119 families.

KUALA BERANG: Heavy rains since Monday resulted in the Kenyir Elephant Conservation Village (KECV) here being hit by sudden gushes of water from the hills.

Thankfully, in the incidents that took place on Wednesday afternoon and yesterday morning, no one was hurt as the centre had been off-limits to visitors since Wednesday on account of the bad weather.

KECV director Ang Ching Yang told Bernama that in the first water surge incident that occurred around 1pm on Wednesday, damage was caused to several areas at the centre, including the cafeteria, prayer hall and toilets.

He said the second incident that happened at about 9.30am yesterday inundated the bridge and made it difficult for the workers to feed the elephants.

“Two days before the incidents,

I saw the river water turning yellow and mixed with mud. The elephants here had also made strange sounds.

“Based on our experience here, both situations indicate that a natural disaster was about to happen,” he said.

Ang said he is thankful that the water surge incidents did not affect the 17 elephants at the centre as the animals were moved to a safe location earlier.

“We haven’t calculated the cost of damage yet, but for the past few years, almost annually, we have been hit by water surges, and the cost of cleaning and repairing the affected areas and facilities will range between RM250,000 and RM300,000,” he said.

KECV will reopen to visitors when the cleaning and repair work is completed and good weather returns, he added.

Meanwhile, the National Disaster Control Centre of the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) said the number of flood victims in Terengganu, Kelantan and Pahang dropped to 1,604 people at 17 temporary relief centres (PPS) as at 4pm yesterday, compared to 2,626 victims at 31 PPS at noon.

According to the latest report, the number of victims in Terengganu dropped to 1,067 at 13 PPS, with 603 people at seven PPS in Setiu, 183 evacuees at three PPS in Hulu Terengganu, 268 victims at two PPS in Dungun, and 13 people at one PPS in Besut.

In Kelantan, one PPS was opened in Kuala Krai to house 27 victims and the number of evacuees at two PPS in Pasir Puteh remains unchanged at 350, while in Pahang, 160 people are sheltering at one PPS in Kuantan.

Meanwhile, the Irrigation and

Drainage Department Telemetry Station shows that several river localities in Terengganu, Kedah, Pahang, Johor, Perlis and Sabah are at danger levels.

The rivers involved include Sungai Dungun, Sungai Terengganu and Sungai Besut in Terengganu; Sungai Muda, Sik and Sungai Kedah, Kota Setar in Kedah; and Sungai Arau in Perlis.

The others are Sungai Pahang in Bera, Sungai Rompin and Sungai Kuantan in Pahang; Sungai Sarang Buaya in Muar and Sungai Johor in Kota Tinggi, Johor; and Sungai Kinabatangan in Sabah.

Nadma also said 19 roads were closed due to floods, damaged bridges, collapsed roads and landslides, including Jalan Sungai Lembing in Kuantan, Pahang; Jalan Jemaluang-batu Pahat in Mersing, Johor, and Trolak Selatan in Batang Padang, Perak.