Strong winds damage 49 houses in 10 villages

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A house roof in Kampung Kota Ayangan was blown away.

KENINGAU: A total of 49 houses in ten villages here were destroyed when its roof were blown off by strong winds at 4.30pm on Friday.

Out of the ten villages, Kampung Tigot was the worst hit with 23 houses involved.

The other affected villages are Kampung Kota Ayangan with a total of eight houses, Toboh Laut (two), Baginda (four), Binaong (three), Sasaie (one), Bingkor Lama (two), Tuhan Baru (one), Merampong (three) and Tonobon Baru (two).

Over 20 huts for keeping rice in a paddy field also sustained severe damage.

Besides homes, public facilities were also damaged including the Kampung Tuhan Baru open hall, five electric poles which fell down along Kampung Baginda road and Kampung Binaong’s church kitchen building.

Following the collapse of the electric poles, several villages in Bingkor area also experienced a blackout.

Apart from roof damage, homeowners also suffered severe damage to equipment in their home due to heavy rains accompanied by strong winds and lightning.

In addition, several villagers also incurred losses in their agricultural endeavor due to the unexpected natural disaster.

Meanwhile, Keningau Parliamentary Liaison Chief Officer, Augustine Nain who visited the scene yesterday urged the Chairmen of the Village Development and Security Committee (JKKK) to submit a complete report to the office to facilitate distribution of assistance.

“I ask for the JKKK to take immediate action and to proactively help those suffering from this tragedy. I do not want any of them to be left out of the list of names,” he said.

Nain said a full report will be sent to Keningau Member of Parliament Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan, who is also Deputy Chief Minister and Infrastructure Development Minister, on Monday for take further action.

Nain also hopes that the district Department of Community Services would assist those involved in the disaster.

Also present were Keningau Parliamentary Liaison Officer for Bingkor area, Victor Anahong and Executive Secretary of the Keningau Barisan Nasional (BN), Tinus Majip and leaders of Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS).