KUCHING: The authorities are monitoring the movement of tropical storm Kai-Tak, which is heading towards Vietnam after pummelling the eastern Philippines recently.
Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said within the next 24 hours, the Malaysian Meteorological Department (METMalaysia) will ascertain the strength and track of the tropical storm when it merges into the South China Sea from the Philippines.
Junaidi said villages located along coastal areas in Sarawak and Sabah will likely be affected by the movement of the tropical storm as it moves towards the South China Sea.
“We hope that the storm will weaken and fizzle out before it reaches Vietnam within the next 36 hours,” Junaidi, who is also the Santubong Member of Parliament, told the New Straits Times.
He said areas located at the tip of northern Sabah, including Lahad Datu, had already experienced downpours and strong wind as Kai-Tak moves towards the South China Sea.
“And I also learned there were people from a village in Sebuyau were relocated to temporary relief centres due to the wet spell.
“A village in my constituency had also been inundated by floods but the damages were not that severe.
“From the information I gathered, there is not much increase in rainfall but the floods were caused by continuous rain,” he said.
Meanwhile, METMalaysia, in an advisory, said the storm is now at the latitude of 10.5 north and longitude 118.4 east, approximately 437km towards the northeast of Kudat, Sabah.
“It is moving towards the west with the speed of 15km per hour.
“This condition may cause strong winds of between 40km per hour and 50km per hour and waves up to 3.5 metres over the waters off Sarawak, parts of Sabah and Labuan,” the statement said.
In Sarawak, the State Natural Disaster Management Committee has activated all disaster operations centre following the bad weather, which is expected to persist until Wednesday.
The centres, said the committee’s secretariat, are located in Kuching, Samarahan, Serian, Betong, Sarikei, Sibu, Mukah, Bintulu, Miri and Limbang divisions.