THE helicopter units of the Sarawak Fire and Rescue Department Air Wing are deploying urgent food supplies to at least 100 longhouses in Tatau district in northern Sarawak cut off from the outside world due to the worsening floods.
Minister in the Sarawak Premier's Department, Datuk Seri John Sikie Tayai today said the Bomba Air Wing will try to cover as many of the more than 100 settlements as possible today and the next few days.
"Bomba helicopters will airlift food supplies into those settlements where floods have cut off all links.
"There are at least 100 settlements cut off from land and river links in the interior of Tatau district alone where the helicopters are needed to reach them.
"The people stranded there need food supplies urgently and the Bomba Air Wing has sprung into action.
"For other flooded settlements that can still be reached by rivers, food supplies are being sent by Bomba rescue boats," he said after a briefing at the Tatau District Disaster Management operation centre.
Tatau is located about 300 kms south of Miri.
Sikie said the Sarawak Bomba helicopters will have to operate very cautiously.
"They can only fly into remote areas when the weather conditions permit.
"We urged those rural folks who are stranded to wait until food supplies arrive.
"There are plenty of challenges we have to overcome now in these floods," he stressed.
Sikie said the Sarawak Bomba is working non-stop daily along with the Civil Defence Unit, welfare teams and district offices to help those caught in the ongoing floods.
Sarawak is facing an onslaught of the landas season, the equivalent of the monsoon.
Torrential rain and floods have hit many parts of this vast state since early December. - January 27, 2025
