Scenes of the flooding in Sarawak. THE STAR Photo

KUCHING The number of flood victims in Sarawak almost doubled as of 8am on Thursday when 5,385 people from 1,505 families sought shelter at temporary relief centres compared to 2,981 people from 862 families on Wednesday night.

Based on the latest report from the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee Secretariat, Bintulu has the highest number of flood victims, with 1,481 people from 396 families placed in six centres; followed by Serian with 1,442 people from 446 families in 15 centres.

The number of affected districts also increased from 12 as of 8pm Wednesday (Jan 29) to 14 on Thursday (Jan 30) with the number of centres activated rising from 36 to 47.

Meanwhile, in Sabah, the number of flood victims surged to 2,240 people from 771 families on Thursday morning, compared to 1,019 people from 291 families on Wednesday night, involving eight districts.

Kota Marudu remained the district with the highest number of evacuated victims, with 1,467 people from 566 families placed in five temporary relief centres; followed by Telupid with 195 victims from 48 families in two centres; and Beluran with 190 victims from 55 families in three centres.

In Sandakan, 118 victims from 28 families are housed in one centre; in Beaufort (102 people from 29 families in one centre); Kota Belud (92 people from 21 families in two centres); Tongod (54 people from 13 families in one centre); and Paitan (22 people from 11 families in two centres).

Meanwhile, of the 17 centres opened, three had to operate beyond 100 per cent capacity, namely Sekolah Kebangsaan Kota Marudu at 141.5 per cent by housing 283 victims from 154 families; Dewan Kampung Balaban Jaya in Beluran at 128 per cent by sheltering 128 people from 34 families; and Mini Dewan Kampung Bauto in Telupid at 115.83 per cent by taking in 139 victims from 32 families. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK