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Civil Defence puts 1,210 personnel on standby for floods in S’wak

MIRI: The Civil Defence Unit has placed 1,210 rescue personnel on standby for flood emergencies in Sarawak as heavy rain escalates in the state.

The personnel are being prepared for duties in all 32 districts throughout the vast state.

According to an internal memo, a schedule has been drawn up to deploy advance fleets of rescue personnelm in the event flash floods occur in longhouses and riverine settlements.

After that, a back-up squad of an even bigger number will be sent out to help coordinate flood-relief operations in designated evacuation centres.

These back-up squads will also help in food-aid transportation and distribution, said the memo.

In the meantime, the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) has also deployed an additional fleet of rescue boats throughout Sarawak.

The additional 23 rescue boats given to Sarawak by Nadma means that the Sarawak Civil Defence Unit will have about 70 boats on standby at any time.

These will provide additional assistance to the Sarawak Fire and Rescue Department during flood-rescue operations.

Nadma is a Federal Government agency under the chairmanship of Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Ismail.

Sarawak is seeing increasingly heavy rain in many areas as the “landas” season starts.

The “landas” in Sarawak is the equivalent of the monsoon in the east coast states of Terengganu, Kelantan and Pahang.

Both the “landas” and monsoon are capable of causing widespread flood havocs.

Source: TheStar