Terengganu Floods: 2 Teenagers Dead, Almost 3,000 People Evacuated
Almost 3,000 flood evacuees have been placed in 74 relief centres across Terengganu.
By Nandini Balakrishnan — 29 Nov 2017, 01:18 PM
12-year-old Khalid Al-Walid Juzaiman is the first victim of the Terengganu floods
According to a report by Bernama, the boy was found drowned in a canal in Kampung Tok Hakim, Bukit Payung at about 1.30pm yesterday, 28 November.
"He was playing near the canal, swollen due to the heavy rain last night (27 November). He had gone there with his two friends.
"The friends are safe. The body of Khalid was found about 30 metres away from where he had fallen into the water," said a spokesman of the Fire and Rescue Department.
The second victim is a 17-year-old from SMK Bukit Payong. He slipped and fell into Sungai Besut when crossing a bridge at Kampung Bukit Payong in Jerteh.
The victim's body has been taken to Hospital Besut where a post mortem examination will take place.
Image via Mohammad Ishak/Harian MetroHarian Metro reported that the victim, Zulfaiz Zukarmi, was with his six other friends when the incident happened at about 5pm. He was found drowned not long after, about 150 metres away from his house.
The Malay daily said that Zulfaiz was a bright young student, who had just recently completed his SMP examinations.
The heavy floods in Terengganu have taken a turn for the worse, as the number of evacuees continue to increase.
Almost 3,000 people from seven districts have been placed in 74 relief centres as of this morning.
As of 7.30am today, Besut is the district with the highest number of flood victims at 1,348 people from 378 families placed in 33 relief centres. That is a sharp increase from last night's numbers, when there were only 234 people from 104 families seeking shelter at seven relief centres.
New Straits Times reported that the Drainage and Irrigation Department said that three rivers in the state have exceeded warning levels.
The water level in Sungai Nerus in Kampung Langkap Setiu is now at 21.39 metres, which is 0.64 above the safe level, while Sungai Chalok stands at 7.85 metres - 0.16 metres above its normal level of 7.70 metres.
Sungai Marang has exceeded its warning level by 0.19 metres and now stands at 2.49 metres.
Meanwhile, in Kelantan, the number of flood evacuees have increased from 3,033 at 1pm yesterday, 28 November, to 6,719 this morning
Kelantan's official flood portal, eBanjir Negeri Kelantan said that the number of flood victims stood at 5,016 at 9pm last night.
The victims have been placed at 97 relief centres across nine districts, with Pasir Mas recording the highest number of evacuees at 2,237, followed by 1,301 people in Kota Baru and 970 people in Tanah Merah.
