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PRIME MINISTER'S DEPARTMENT
NATIONAL DISASTER MANAGEMENT AGENCY
PRIME MINISTER'S DEPARTMENT
NATIONAL DISASTER MANAGEMENT AGENCY
PONTIAN – Keadaan banjir termenung di Kampung Sungai Besar, Benut di sini, yang berlarutan sejak seminggu lalu terus meresahkan penduduk yang masih berteduh di beberapa pusat pemindahan sementara (PPS).
Penduduk, Abdul Rahim Omar berkata, hujan lebat sejak seminggu lalu menyebabkan rumahnya digenangi air dan sehingga kini masih belum surut sepenuhnya.
"Sejak Rabu minggu lepas, rumah sudah ditenggelami banjir sedalam 0.2 meter. Hujan lebat menyebabkan saya dan isteri, Kamariah Bachok, 49, serta lima orang anak bergilir-gilir memerhatikan keadaan rumah berikutan bimbang paras banjir terus meningkat.
"Kami sekeluarga terus diuji pada petang Ahad lalu apabila hujan turun semakin lebat, menyebabkan rumah dinaiki air sehingga paras 0.5 meter dan terpaksa berpindah ke PPS Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Sinaran Tampok," katanya kepada Sinar Harian pada Rabu.
Pekebun sawit itu berkata, kawasan kampungnya tidak pernah dilanda banjir sejak 2006, selepas kejadian banjir besar yang melanda ketika itu.
"Banjir tidak surut lagi, risau barang dalam rumah rosak. Walaupun kami sudah dibenarkan pulang dari PPS pada pagi Rabu, tetapi perasaan bimbang banjir berulang tetap ada.
"Saya dan anak mengangkat peti ais serta mesin basuh ke tempat lebih tinggi, takut kalau petang ini hujan, rumah akan dinaiki air lagi," katanya.
Ditanya mengenai persiapan raya, Abdul Rahim mengakui tidak banyak persiapan yang dibuat kerana rumahnya sudah dinaiki air sejak seminggu lalu.
"Ada sedikit kuih raya yang sudah dibeli. Itu pun selamat daripada banjir sebab diletakkan di rak yang tinggi.
"Rasanya sekarang ini, tiada semangat hendak sambut raya sebab risau banjir berulang disebabkan keadaan cuaca yang tidak menentu dengan hujan turun pada setiap petang," katanya.
Justeru, beliau berharap parit dan sistem saliran di kampung dapat diselenggara dengan baik bagi memastikan aliran air lancar sekali gus mengelakkan kejadian banjir.
JOHOR BARU: Pupils and teachers from two flood-ravaged schools will continue home-based learning (PdPR) until Friday due to severe infrastructure damage from last week's floods.
SK Kangkar Tebrau and SK Maju Jaya in Seelong, both located in the state capital, suffered losses exceeding RM100,000, forcing temporary closures.
State Education and Information Committee chairman Aznan Tamin said eight schools were initially affected since last Thursday, but six have since resumed physical classes.
The six schools are SK Kampung Pulai, SK Tampoi Utama, SMK Taman Kota Jaya, SJKC Pei Hwa, SK Bandar in Kota Tinggi, and SK Seri Perpat in Batu Pahat.
The two worst-hit schools remain shut due to damage to classrooms, computer laboratories, assembly areas and canteens. The Johor Education Department approved PdPR for the final school week before the Hari Raya break.
JOHOR BAHRU – Dua buah sekolah di negeri ini terpaksa melaksanakan Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran di Rumah (PdPR) ekoran mengalami kerosakan teruk akibat bencana banjir, baru-baru ini.
Pengerusi Jawatankuasa Pendidikan dan Penerangan Johor Aznan Tamin berkata, dua sekolah tersebut adalah Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Kangkar Tebrau dan SK Maju Jaya, di sini.
Menurutnya, kedua-dua sekolah terbabit mengalami pelbagai kerosakan dan kehilangan harta melibatkan kerugian bernilai lebih RM100,000.
“Sejak banjir melanda Johor Khamis lalu, lapan buah sekolah terjejas sehingga mengganggu proses pembelajaran murid dan pelajar, namun enam daripadanya telah beroperasi semula.
“Bagaimanapun bagi dua sekolah yang masih ditutup, proses PdPR akan dilaksanakan bagi minggu akhir persekolahan sebelum cuti Aidilfitri,” katanya kepada pemberita pada Majlis Berbuka Puasa Mahasiswa Anak Johor yang diadakan di Cendana Event Space, di sini semalam.
Sementara itu, Aznan memaklumkan majlis berkenaan bertujuan meraikan seramai 200 mahasiswa negeri ini yang menuntut di pelbagai institusi pengajian tinggi (IPT) seluruh negara.
“Kerajaan negeri melalui YPJ telah menyediakan pelbagai bantuan bagi kelangsungan mahasiswa di kampus masing-masing termasuklah RM650,000 untuk Persatuan Mahasiswa Anak Johor.
“RM18.3 juta telah diperuntukkan bagi Bantuan Pinjaman Pelajaran Mahasiswa IPT, RM8 juta pemberian Bantuan Pendaftaran, RM3 juta sebagai Insentif Mahasiswa Johor serta RM2.5 juta untuk pelaksanaan Bantuan Laptop Siswa Johor,” ujarnya. – KOSMO! ONLINE
SEOUL: Pasukan bomba bertungkus lumus pada Rabu untuk mengawal siri kebakaran hutan yang melanda wilayah tenggara Korea Selatan, mengorbankan sekurang-kurangnya 24 orang.
Bagaimanapun , keadaan angin kencang dan cuaca kering terus menyukarkan usaha pemadaman, lapor Agensi Berita Yonhap.
Puluhan helikopter pemadam kebakaran, kira-kira 5,000 anggota, serta sekitar 560 unit peralatan dikerahkan, tetapi kebakaran yang bermula di Daerah Sancheong, Wilayah Gyeongsang Selatan pada Jumaat lalu telah merebak ke timur laut wilayah itu.
Dalam tempoh lima hari, kebakaran merebak ke Uiseong dan kini sedang menuju ke Andong, Cheongsong, Yeongyang, serta Yeongdeok.
Daripada 24 mangsa yang terkorban, 20 ditemukan di Uiseong dan empat lagi di Sancheong setakat jam 4 petang, menurut data Ibu Pejabat Langkah Pencegahan dan Keselamatan Bencana Pusat.
Risiko kebakaran merebak ke kawasan pantai timur semakin meningkat akibat angin kencang, menimbulkan kebimbangan bahawa kebakaran boleh sampai ke Daerah Uljin, lokasi sebuah loji kuasa nuklear utama.
Seorang pegawai perhutanan memberi amaran mengenai faktor tidak menentu seperti perubahan mendadak arah angin.
Katanya, meskipun kebakaran di Uiseong pada awalnya merebak ke arah timur, angin dari selatan dan barat daya dikesan pada Selasa dan Rabu.
Di Yeongyang, empat daripada lima mangsa ditemukan rentung di atas jalan raya kira-kira pukul 11 malam Selasa.
Pada Rabu, Pemangku Presiden Han Duck-soo menggesa usaha secara habis-habisan bagi menghalang kebakaran hutan itu daripada terus merebak, menyifatkannya sebagai 'kebakaran hutan terburuk pernah berlaku'.
Setakat ini, kebakaran memusnahkan 17,000 hektar hutan serta 209 rumah dan kilang, katanya.
Kebakaran turut memusnahkan Kuil Goun di Uiseong, sebuah kuil purba yang dibina pada tahun 681 semasa Dinasti Silla (57 SM–935 M). Bagaimanapun, khazanah negara yang disimpan di kuil itu telah dipindahkan ke lokasi lain.
Terdahulu pada Rabu, sebuah helikopter pemadam kebakaran yang dikendalikan seorang juruterbang terhempas di Uiseong ketika bertugas memadam kebakaran besar di kawasan itu, mengorbankan juruterbang berkenaan.
Wilayah Gyeongsang Utara dan Gyeongsang Selatan merupakan lokasi bagi banyak aset sejarah dan budaya, termasuk khazanah negara. Dengan kebakaran semakin menghampiri, kebimbangan kembali meningkat di sekitar Kampung Rakyat Hahoe di Andong.
Pihak berkuasa berkata api telah mara sehingga hanya lima kilometer (km) dari Kampung Hahoe dan merancang untuk mengerahkan dua helikopter pemadam kebakaran sebagai langkah pencegahan awal.
Terletak kira-kira 190km ke tenggara Seoul, Hahoe merupakan satu daripada kampung rakyat paling terkenal di Korea Selatan dan diiktiraf sebagai Tapak Warisan Dunia Pertubuhan Pelajaran, Sains dan Kebudayaan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu (UNESCO) pada 2010.
Kampung itu mengekalkan rumah-rumah serta tradisi dari zaman Dinasti Joseon (1392–1910).
ANDONG: One of South Korea's worst-ever wildfire outbreaks has killed at least 24 people, officials said Wednesday, with multiple raging blazes causing “unprecedented damage“ and threatening two UNESCO-listed sites.
More than a dozen fires broke out over the weekend, scorching wide swathes of the southeast, forcing around 27,000 people to urgently evacuate, with the fire cutting off roads and downing communications lines as residents fled in panic.
The death toll jumped to 24 on Wednesday, as wind-driven flames tore through neighbourhoods and razed an ancient temple.
“Twenty four people are confirmed dead in the wildfires so far,“ with 12 seriously injured, a ministry of interior and safety official told AFP, adding that these were “preliminary figures” and the toll could rise.
Most of those killed were local residents, but at least three firefighters were killed, and a pilot in a firefighting helicopter died when his aircraft crashed in a mountain area, officials said.
According to the interior ministry, the wildfires have charred 17,398 hectares (42,991 acres), with the blaze in Uiseong county alone accounting for 87 percent of the total.
The extent of damage already makes it South Korea's second largest, after the inferno in April 2000 that scorched 23,913 hectares across the east coast.
The government has raised the crisis alert to its highest level and taken the rare step of transferring some inmates out of prisons in the area.
“Wildfires burning for a fifth consecutive day... are causing unprecedented damage,“ South Korea's acting president Han Duck-soo said.
He told an emergency safety and disaster meeting that the blazes were “developing in a way that is exceeding both existing prediction models and earlier expectations.”
“Throughout the night, chaos continued as power and communication lines were cut in several areas and roads were blocked,“ he added.
In the city of Andong, some evacuees sheltering in an elementary school gym told AFP they had to flee so quickly they could bring nothing with them.
“The wind was so strong,“ Kwon So-han, a 79-year-old resident in Andong told AFP, adding that as soon as he got the evacuation order he fled.
“The fire came from the mountain and fell on my house,“ he said. “Those who haven’t experienced it won’t know. I could only bring my body.”
'Most devastating'
Authorities had been using helicopters to battle the blazes, but suspended all such operations after a helicopter crashed Wednesday, killing the pilot on board.
Authorities said changing wind patterns and dry weather had revealed the limitations of conventional firefighting methods.
The fires are “the most devastating” yet in South Korea, acting president Han added.
By Wednesday, two UNESCO-listed sites popular with tourists -- historic Hahoe Folk Village and Byeongsan Seowon -- were under threat.
Authorities said late Wednesday that the fire was just five kilometres away from Hahoe, a village where some houses were covered with thatched roofs.
Firefighters were also on standby at nearby Byeongsan Seowon, known for its pavillion-style ancient academies.
Huge plumes of smoke turned the sky over the village grey and huge chunks of ash floated in the air, AFP reporters saw, with fire trucks spraying water and fire-retardants onto the historic site in a desperate bit to save it.
'Fireballs'
Last year was South Korea's hottest year on record, with the Korea Meteorological Administration saying that the average annual temperature was 14.5 degrees Celsius -- two degrees higher than the preceding 30-year average of 12.5 degrees.
The fire-hit region had been experiencing unusually dry weather with below-average precipitation, authorities have said, with the South experiencing more than double the number of fires this year than last.
Some types of extreme weather have a well-established link with climate change, such as heatwaves or heavy rainfall. Other phenomena, such as forest fires, droughts, snowstorms and tropical storms can result from a combination of complex factors.
“We can’t say that it’s only due to climate change, but climate change is directly (and) indirectly affecting the changes we are experiencing now. This is a sheer fact,“ Yeh Sang-Wook, professor of climatology at Seoul’s Hanyang University, told AFP.
“Wildfires will become more frequent,“ he added.
“As the atmosphere becomes warmer due to climate change, the water vapour in the ground evaporates more easily, so the amount of moisture contained in the ground decreases. So, all this creates the conditions wildfires can occur more frequently.”
The major fire in Uiseong was reportedly caused by a person tending to a family grave who accidentally ignited the blaze. Apple farmer Cho Jae-oak told AFP that he and his wife had sprayed water around their house all day to protect it.
“We kept spraying and guarding it. When the fire was burning on the mountain, fireballs flew here,“ he said, adding that the encroaching flames eventually forced them to leave.