763 Flood-Risk Areas In Pahang

KUANTAN, Oct 11 (Bernama) -- A total of 763 areas throughout Pahang have been listed as flood risk locations or 'hotspots'," said Pahang Civil Defence Force (APM) director Col (PA) Che Adam A Rahman.

He said data obtained from the Pahang Irrigation and Drainage Department (JPS) showed the district with the highest risk was Temerloh with 185 locations, followed by Jerantut (106), Pekan (89), Lipis (88), Bera (70), Kuantan (64), Raub (56), Maran (51), Bentong (23), Rompin (20) and Cameron Highlands (11).

"Most of the areas at risk of flooding are along the river and our team will monitor these locations periodically according to the forecast of the Meteorological Department.

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"In addition, we were also informed that the flood early warning siren also worked well when the test was held last week," he said at a press conference here today.

Meanwhile, he said APM as the secretariat of the Pahang Disaster Management Committee is prepared to face the transition of the North East Monsoon (MTL) which is expected to start from November to March next year with a strength of 660 members.

 According to Che Adam, 17 Pahang APM operations rooms will operate 24 hours a day involving one State Operations Control Centre (PKON), 11 District Operations Control Centres (PKOD) and five Unit Operations Control Centres.

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He said to launch the rescue operation, a number of assets have been put on standby including 24 units of Medical Rescue Vehicle (MRV), Heavy Rescue Vehicle (HRV) (15 units) and boats of various sizes (72 units).

He said this year Pahang APM also received five new boats placed in the inland areas in Jerantut district which involved an allocation of RM100,000 from the National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA).

Commenting further, he said the Pahang Social Welfare Department also informed that 858 temporary evacuation centres (PPS) with a capacity of 166,295 people are ready to operate to accommodate flood victims this time.

In the meantime, he said Pahang APM also plays the role as a centre for the collection of disaster relief goods where the community can channel donations of goods to the relevant agency to be coordinated and distributed to flood victims.

Che Adam also reminded the community not to repeat the previous flood incident which will cause residents' annoyance and to always check for authentic information from relevant agencies.

-- BERNAMA