One of the units at Rumah Lasah Mering, where the roof was damaged by strong winds during the Wednesday night storm.
BINTULU: Sebauh District Office is focusing on getting the five primary schools affected by the recent flooding ready before the reopening after the Chinese New Year holidays.
Sebauh District officer Desmond Douglas Jerukan observed that as at 9am yesterday, SK Kuala Sigu, SK Kuala Binyo, SK Sungai Genaan and SK Bukit Mawang were still inundated, while the water level at SK Bukit Balai had receded.
Schools closed yesterday for Chinese New Year holidays and would reopen on Jan 31, he said.
“However, our (district office) disaster operations room will remain on high alert.
“The Sebauh Education officer Tero Bayel has also opened the operations room there to monitor the (five) schools, especially the assets that were damaged or swept away by the flood.
“The big challenge is the clean-up before class reopens after Chinese New Year (holidays),” he said.
Desmond said he would get input from Tero on the condition of the affected schools.
“Safety remains a top priority because we are concerned about live electrical wires that have been in contact with floodwater.
“Sometimes, there are also wild animals at the school compounds; they’re brought in after being swept away from their habitat by the flood waters,” he added.
According to State Disaster Management Committee Civil Defence Force secretariat Major Ismail Mahedin , the water level in Sungai Kemena as of 2pm yesterday was 9.97m.
Apart from the five primary schools in Sebauh, he said there were also two in Tatau – SK Ng Penyarai and SK Rumah Keseng – that were affected by flooding.
In an unrelated incident, Desmond said the operations room received a report on Wednesday about a longhouse at Sungai Pesu Tubau being hit by storm In the 8pm incident, one of 24 units at Rumah Lasah Mering had its roof torn open by strong winds.
“No injuries were reported. I was informed that Sesco had to cut off the electricity supply to the longhouse as a safety precaution.
“Sebauh District state administrative officer David Kala and personnel from Bintulu Welfare Department have gone to the longhouse to provide the necessary assistance to and obtain information from the villagers,” said Desmond.