SIBU, Oct 4 — The water level of the Rejang River at Kapit Town station showed a downward trend as of 2.45 pm today, with the latest reading of 12.29 metres (m) compared with 12.34m recorded yesterday.

However, the reading, obtained from the state’s Department of Irrigation and Drainage website at ihydro.sarawak.gov.my stated that the water was still above the alert level of 11.90m.

Further upstream, the Nanga Merit station also recorded a downward trend, but still not out of the alert level of 20m, after recording 22.63m compared with the previous reading of 22.64m.

The water level at the Punan Ba station remained unchanged at 10.12m, still above the warning level of 10m.

Coupled with the king tide phenomenon, continuous rain for the past few days has caused the river to swell, affecting several schools and longhouses in the Batang Baleh area.

Among the affected longhouses are Rumah Rentap, Rumah Soselly Sintau Sumok and Rumah Unggam Majau in Nanga Entawau, Balleh, as well as Rumah James Bandak at Nanga Sempilih, Rumah John Katil at Karangan Arad and Rumah Panyau at Nanga Kemalih, Balleh.

Kapit Fire and Rescue Department chief, Erwandy Tugor, said that his department will monitor the flood situation in the areas from time to time, as three primary schools, Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Temenggong Koh, SK Nanga Sempili and SK Sungai Kain have also been affected by the flood.

He said that food assistance from the Kapit resident office, Bukit Mabong district office, Kapit Welfare Department and P216 Hulu Rejang service centre have been distributed to the affected residents.

Meanwhile, further downstream, the Kanowit Fire and Rescue Department reported that Lukut-Penyulau Road was inundated by 0.6m of floodwater; coupled with a fallen tree, the road was impassable for motor vehicles as of 6 am.

However, following good weather by this afternoon, the water receded and the fallen tree was cleared by the department to enable traffic to pass.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency