DUNGUN: Twenty people from five families were evacuated to a flood relief centre at Dewan Kampung Cacar Baru in Paka here as their village was inundated by knee-high flood waters.
Heavy rainfall since early morning caused massive flooding in the village, which is just about two kilometres from the coast.
National Disaster Management Agency (Dungun) spokesman Ramlan Ros Wahid said the centre opened at 11.30am after flood waters kept rising at the houses of affected villagers.
"Rain water had been accumulating at the low-lying village for days. It has nothing to do with the tides.
"We will continue to monitor the situation before allowing the villages to go back," he said.
This is the only centre which is open in the state.
Meanwhile, the Kuala Terengganu City Council has hired contract workers to clean up all clogged drains in flood-prone areas in the city as a proactive measure to prevent floods in future.
A council spokesman urged the people to stop disposing garbage into drains, as this would exacerbate flooding problems.
"We have cleared quite a number of clogged drains so far, and hope this will do away with the flash flood problem," he said.