Floods: 14 deaths recorded nationwide

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 20  --  After going through 24 hours without heavy rain in several states has brought some relief and joy to the flood victims which have now entered their third day today.

However, the hot weather that allowed the water situation in some areas to start receding also brought sad news. The body count of those who died in the recent floods has started to emerge.

Eight bodies were found in Selangor, while in Pahang, the number of casualties was six with another four still reported missing in the Bentong floods.

This brings the tally of people who perished in the floods which struck eight states to 15. 

Another 66,939 victims had to be relocated to 466 flood relief centres (PPS) in Selangor, Pahang, Terengganu, Kelantan, Negeri Sembilan, Melaka, Perak  and Kuala Lumpur. 

Three more bodies were found in Taman Sri Muda, Shah Alam which is the worst affected area in Selangor while four more victims of mudflow in Telemong, Bentong, Pahang.

Selangor police chief Datuk Arjunaidi Mohamed said in Selangor besides four deaths in Shah Alam, two more deaths were recorded in Kajang and one each in Sungai Buloh and Sepang.

The body of a man in his 30s was found believed to be the first drowning victim found at the main entrance to the Alam Idaman Apartment in Section 22 in Shah Alam at 7.50 pm yesterday. The body was found after floodwater started to recede yesterday evening with a 14 seconds video of the discovery which went viral on social media.

Police also confirmed the discovery of three more drowning victims in Taman Sri Muda, Shah Alam.

Shah Alam police chief ACP Baharudin Mat Taib said all victims were male and two of them were found at 1 am while another body was found at 5 am by the public and the Fire and Rescue Department while they were doing rescue work. The bodies were taken to the Shah Alam Hospital for further action.

Meanwhile, Selangor Fire and Rescue Department director Norazam Khamis said, two male victims were found in Dengkil and the body of a man was found in Sepang today while another body of a man was found in Desa Coalfields, Kuala Selangor yesterday.

Apart from that, several break-in incidents of convenience stores were reported in the Taman Sri Muda area which was badly affected by the floods.

The break-ins were reported to have occurred at around 1 pm to  2 pm which Baarudin confirmed to Bernama.

In Pahang, factory operator M.Gunalan, 38, became the first casualty in the state after his body was found at 2.22 pm on Friday (17 Dec) about 100 meters away from the location he was reported to have fallen while trying to ride his motorcycle in the flood near a Chinese cemetery in Gambang.

The second victim recorded in the state involved a man who was reported missing at 1 am yesterday after he was said also tried to drive his Proton Exora car in the flood water near Kampung Cempaka with a friend before the vehicle stranded.

Meanwhile, the bodies of three women and one man, believed to be from a group of five individuals were reported missing in the mud floods in Telemong here were found by a search and rescue (SAR) team today. The operations started at 9 am in the area where they were reported missing.

The body of the male victim was found at 1 pm today while the bodies of the three women were found at 1.20 pm and 4.23 pm about two to five kilometres from the area they were reported to be swept away by floodwaters near a river in the village. 

In PERAK, although the weather is forecast to be good until tomorrow morning in most places the authorities will continue to monitor the situation in high-risk areas to prevent any untoward incidents from occurring.

In TERENGGANU, water levels at the main rivers in the state are back to normal levels except at the Sungai Kemaman reading station at the Paya Pama pump house which recorded a level of 4.45 meters (m) over the danger level of 4 meters.

In KUALA LUMPUR, a total of 371 flood victims are still placed at three PPS and the fine weather today saw 10 roads that were previously closed after being flooded have been re-opened.

In KELANTAN, the four major rivers in the State are still at danger level, namely Sungai Lebir in Tualang, Kuala Krai recorded a reading of 36.67 meters (m), Sungai Kelantan in Tangga Krai (25.10m) , Sungai Kelantan at the Guillemard bridge  (16.29 m) and Sungai Golok in Rantau Panjang, Pasir Mas (10.19m) 

In NEGERI SEMBILAN, Malaysian Civil Defense Force director Lt Col (PA) Mohd Syukri Madnor said flood victims in the state who were still housed at PPS have gone down following good weather conditions today.

 -- BERNAMA