Kangar still under water

Kangar still under water

Almost the entire town remains submerged with the number of evacuees continuing to rise.

Despite the rainfall having eased since Tuesday, the situation is still unmanageable with 90% of the state capital inundated.

A spokesman with the Perlis National Security Council said the state Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) had no choice but to open up the six flood gates at the Timah Tasoh dam to release water and prevent its walls from collapsing.

He said there were now over 8,000 evacuees at 42 relief centres throughout the state. There were 26 such centres in Kangar, nine in Arau and seven in Padang Besar.

A total of 1,909 families had already sought refuge at these centres.

The official said all roads leading to Kangar and main roads in the state had been closed as a precautionary and safety measure.

Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Md Isa Sabu said the situation in Padang Besar had improved, but not in Kangar and Arau.

State DID director Nishad Mohamed Shaffy said the water level at the dam had dropped from 30.49m to 30m but was still above the danger level of 29.6m.

“It is drizzling in Padang Besar and Wang Kelian, but if it starts to rain moderately then the water level at the dam will rise again,” he said.

At the Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) in Arau, some 8,000 students are expected to be in for more hardship if the floods do not ease.

The university management had to ration the current food supply to ensure there was enough stock to last for the next two days.

Over 700 teacher trainees at the Perlis Tea­chers’ Training College were stranded in their quarters’ as the water level rose to chest level.

-News courtesy of The Star-