KOTA KINABALU: The flood situation in Sabah continues to be a concern with almost 900 people now being housed in flood relief centres across the state.
As of 4pm today, a total of 890 flood victims are seeking shelter in 15 relief centres.
The victims are from 208 flood-hit villages in seven districts – Beaufort, Paitan, Kota Kinabalu, Kota Belud, Tuaran, Papar and Tenom.
The Civil Defence Force, whose members are actively moving affected villagers to safe ground, said heavy rainfall was recorded in Kota Kinabalu, Tuaran, Penampang, Beaufort and Kota Belud while rain and strong wind is affecting Sipitang and Kuala Penyu.
The agency said Kinabatangan is also experiencing high tides, but no evacuations have been made as of 4pm.
The silver lining is in Penampang, where the flood evacuation centre has been closed after flood waters receded.
Some residents were seen coming together to help clean up flood residue at shops in the Donggongon township, roads, community halls and schools.
The Malaysian Meteorological Department had forecast that continuous heavy rain over the interior (Sipitang, Tenom, Kuala Penyu, Beaufort, and Keningau, Tambunan); West Coast; Sandakan (Telupid, Beluran and Sandakan) and Kudat would last until today.
However, the weather forecast for states show isolated thunderstorms are expected to continue to hit Sabah over the next seven days, with air temperatures expected to drop to a minimum of 22 degrees Celsius.
Thunderstorms may cause strong winds of up to 50kph and rough seas with waves of up to 3.5m.
The department has also cautioned of strong northeasterly winds of over 60kph with waves exceeding 4.5m expected over the waters of Western Sabah and Labuan until tomorrow.
Strong northeasterly winds of 50-60kph with waves of up to 4.5m are also expected over the waters of Eastern Sabah until tomorrow.
The strong winds and rough seas are dangerous to all coastal and shipping activities including workers on oil platforms, fishing vessels, small boats and ferry services.