KOTA KINABALU: Floods have kept residents on alert in the interior districts of Tenom and Beaufort here.
More than 100 people were evacuated in Tenom where some 50 villages were flooded, after an overnight downpour that stopped yesterday morning.
In Beaufort, the Sungai Padas level breached its 8.7m danger mark by 0.5m, spilling into 20 villages and making at least seven key roads impassable.
Tenom district officer Madiyem Layapan said five relief centres in Bangkulin, Labut, Naluyan, Mandalom Lama and Pantongan Saga were opened to shelter about 100 evacuees.
The rain stopped in the afternoon but people remained on alert as the weather continued to be gloomy even as evening came, he said.
Beaufort district officer Mohd Shaid Othman said no families were evacuated but the authorities were on standby, especially at five
low-lying villages — Binunuk, Balibata, Lumatai, Bakalau and Jimpangah.
“Water flowed from upper Sungai Padas. The rain was not heavy but the river rose quickly in the morning.”
He said the district natural disaster relief operations was activated following heavy rain in Tenom.
Tenom and Beaufort were hit by major floods in February, in which 50,000 people were affected and thousands were evacuated.