Meera Vijayan and Farik Zolkepli, The Star 6 Dec 07
JOHOR BARU: Continuous rainfall over the last 24 hours has caused floods in five districts in Johor.
As at 2pm Thursday, over 1,000 victims had been evacuated in Johor Baru, Segamat, Batu Pahat, Kota Tinggi and Kluang. The Meteorological Services Department has also upgraded its heavy rain warning from orange to red for Kelantan, Terengganu and northern Pahang, and advised the people to be on alert for floods.
The red stage warning refers to tropical storm or typhoon with sustained wind speed of at least 60kmph accompanied by moderate to heavy rain, while orange stage means moderate monsoon rain is occurring and expected to continue for several hours.
A bridge from Labis to Segamat near Sungai Karas has been cut off and was accessible only to heavy vehicles.
Johor Police Chief Dep Comm Datuk Hussin Ismail said that police had opened their 24-hour flood operations room as of 8am on Thursday.
“We are prepared for the floods and all our men are on standby,” he said.
State Women, Family and Community Development Committee chairman Dr Robia Kosai said that the Welfare Department had already sent out food and emergency supplies to all districts as of Wednesday.
“The supplies have even been sent out to the islands off Mersing and interior areas like Kampung Peta in Endau-Rompin,” she confirmed.
For more information, the public can contact the police hotline at 07) 221-6393 and the Fire and Rescue Department hotline at 07) 224-7444.
The Meteorological Services Department also issued a first category warning on strong winds and rough seas for the coastal waters off Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, east Johor, Sarawak and Sabah. The first category warning shows strong northesterly winds of 4050kmph with waves up to 3.5m.
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Will Chek Jawa tide through this series of monsoon storms?
More recent reports:
7/12/07 3,200 flee Johor floods
7/12/07 Johor, Pahang on red alert as rivers breach danger levels
7/12/07 Johor floods recede, except in Segamat
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