SIBU in central Sarawak is bracing for a possible flood after outlying areas were inundated due to heavy rain.

With river telemetry showing the water level of the Rajang River continuing to rise, coupled with the news that the state power company would undertake a “regulated release” of water from its Bakun hydroelectric dam, there were fears that the low-lying town on the bank of the country’s longest river could be hit by floods by early next week.

Sarawak Energy Bhd (SEB) in a notice yesterday said the controlled release of the Bakun dam water will commence on Monday and the discharge is expected to last three weeks. 

While SEB said the water would be “released in a controlled manner to minimise impact on areas downstream”, it also warned “rainfall downstream of the dam into catchments and tributaries of the Rajang can still result in floods”.

Sibu resident Frank Julian told The Malaysian Insight that things are still calm in the town and the weather yesterday has “started to get ok”.

The town of Selangau, a popular rest stop on the Pan Borneo highway some 76km from Sibu, and its outlying areas have however been hit by floods yesterday.

The town’s multipurpose hall is currently housing 357 people from nine longhouses and the teachers, staff and boarders of a primary school. The Selangau town multi-purpose hall was one of five relief centres – two in the Sibu Division, two in Limbang and one in Limbang Divisions – that were opened yesterday bringing the total number of relief centres throughout the state to 30.

The number of people at these shelters jumped to 5,392 as at midnight last night from the 4,859 in 25 centres at 8pm last night.

While the situation in southern Sarawak continues to improve, central and northern Sarawak continue to deteriorate.

In Limbang, 20 families from part of Kg Ukongr were forced to evacuate from their homes yesterday afternoon as the water level of the Limbang River was 0.96m over the danger level of 9m.

They were placed in the village’s community hall.

The heavy rain lashing the state created havoc on long-distance road travel, as the some sections of the Pan Borneo Highway were inundated.

The Sibu-Bintulu stretch near Selangau was cut for several hours yesterday ad was only passable by heavy and 4-wheeled drive vehicles.

So were Jalan Kubung and Jalan Menuang Lama in Limbang, which were only passable to heavy and 4-wheeled drive vehicles.

Delegates making their way to the Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu’s (PBB) triennial conference in Kuching had harrowing tales to tell.

PBB’s new Wanita chief, Fatimah Abdullah, in a social media posting related some of the women delegates experience as “ they reported this is the most challenging part of the journey so far … driving through uncharted watery road”.

She also uploaded video of driving through “uncharted watery road”.

The rain of the current monsoon has triggered widespread flooding from Limbang in the north to Kuching in the south, caused landslides and road collapses. – February 8, 2018.