Sarawak opens another flood relief centre

Another flood evacuation centre opened at about 10pm last night, raising the number of victims to 311 from 97 families staying at the two centres in the district of Serian compared with 260 victims from 82 families earlier. The Public Relations Officer of the Sarawak branch of the Civil Defence Department (JPAM), Siti Huzaimah Ibrahim said the new evacuation centre at the Church of the Sacred Heart, about 50km from here, sheltered 51 victims from 14 families. She also said the number of victims at the Gedong Community Centre remained unchanged from last night. She said the water level at most of the settlement areas around the evacuation centres had receded, but monitoring was still being carried out to ensure that the situation was truly safe before the victims could return to their homes. She said the evacuation centre which was opened about a week ago was expected to be closed today after the district disaster management committee had made an evaluation at noon. – Bernama, February 28, 2016.]]>