KOTA KINABALU – Rising river water levels exceeding dangerous levels in Membakut Sabah have resulted in 24 villagers from three villages there being evacuated to safer grounds today.
Beaufort District Police Chief Dato DSP Azmir Bin Abdul Razak said authorities including Police, the Fire department and the civil defence force (APM) in Beaufort/Membakut had conducted checks in several villages near the area.
“During that time they noticed that the Membakut river levels were rising. The river had exceeded the dangerous level of 6.8 metres and levels have reached 7.28 metres as of 1pm today.
He said villagers there were advised to be aware of the weather and river levels and were advised to evacuate to a safer area.
“A total of 24 people comprising villagers from Kg Baitam Laut, Kg Baitam Baru and Kg Kayai were affected and sheltered at evacuation centres. Flood victims were evacuated to PPS Dewan Dun Banjir Beaufort.”
Azmir said total of 16 villages in Membakut were also affected by flooding including Kg Bambangan, Kg Sinoko, Kg Poring, Kg Sindok, Kg Baitam, Kg Lumantak, Kg Baitam Laut, Kg Baru,Kg Jambatan Baru,Kg Papas, Pekan Lama Membakut, Kg Lampijas, Kg Kayai, Kg Baitam Baru, Kg Dungau and Kg Brunei.
“Around 10 roads were affected and were impassable to vehicles due to the flooding. These included Jalan Baitam, Jalan SInoko, Jalan Sindok, Jalan Simpang 3 Kg Poring, Jalan Bambangan, Jalan Baitam Ulu, Jalan Kg Papas,Jalan Lumantak, Jalan Bandau and Jalan Jambatan Baru.”
Azmir said three schools in the area - SK Bambangan, SK Sinoko and SK Pekan Membakut were also affected.
He said Membakut police with the Beaufort Fire Department and APM would continue to monitor the situation from time to time due to the inclement weather. – Bernama, January 12. 2021
