KUALA LUMPUR: The number of flood evacuees in Kelantan, Terengganu and Sabah on Monday (Dec 26) evening saw a drop and that in Perak remained unchanged from the morning tally.

However, the number of residents in Sabah coastal areas, especially those living in stilt houses, evacuated due to the high tide phenomenon, increased this evening compared to the morning.

In KELANTAN, a total of 12 relief centres were closed as of 4pm after 3,900 flood evacuees were allowed to return to their homes.

State Civil Defence Force (APM) Disaster Management and Operations officer Captain (PA) Mohd Hanif Omar said six relief centres were still open in Pasir Mas and Tumpat, housing 1,511 people from 515 families compared to 5,411 from 1,787 families in the morning.

“Five relief centres in Pasir Mas are housing 1,174 people from 390 families, while 337 people from 125 families are still at a centre in Tumpat,” he said in a statement.

The situation in TERENGGANU continued to improve, with the number of evacuees in Besut dropping to 138 from 1,438 in the morning.

The state Disaster Management Committee Secretariat said the relief centre at Masjid Kampung La housed 126 evacuees while that at the Kampung Pantai community hall had 12.

In PERAK, one relief centre remained open in the evening, at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Abd Rahman Talib (SMART) in Hilir Perak, with 62 people from 14 families from Kampung Batu 7 and Kampung Batu 7 1/2 Lorong Mesra, Changkat Jong.

In SABAH, the number of evacuees in Kota Belud dropped to 139 from 57 families this evening from 143 from 58 families in the morning.

A total of 62 people from 26 families are at SK Pekan, while the remaining victims are at Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan (C) Chung Hwa.

The number of residents in coastal areas evacuated due to the phenomenon rose to 1,506 people from 314 families from 1,483 people from 308 families in the morning.

Of the total, 684 evacuees are at one centre in Sandakan, 54 at one centre in Kota Kinabalu and the remaining 768 people are at six centres in Pitas.- Bernama