KOTA KINABALU – A 37-year-old woman died after being swept away by floodwaters near the Sigah roundabout in Penampang here at about 1am today.
The victim, who was identified as Monica Ting Siew Kwong, and her husband Hii Ding Wei, 39, were making their way home after delivering food to flood victims trapped in their homes near Donggongon town.
Penampang district police chief Sammy Newton said the victim’s body was found at 8am, near a residential area, some 500m from where she was swept away.
Earlier, the civil defence launched a search and rescue operation at 1.45am to find Ting after her husband ran to a boat belonging to the authorities asking for help.
Hii could not hold on to his wife as the currents were too strong.
Ting is the first casualty in the Penampang floods that started yesterday due to heavy and continuous rain in the low-lying areas in the district.
As of 1pm today, 67 families in Penampang have been evacuated to the temporary relief centre in the Penampang Cultural Hall. This amounted to 165 victims, including 19 senior citizens, 33 children and five babies.
A second temporary relief centre has also been opened at 1am today in Dewan Sri Putatan and is currently housing 11 families or 36 victims.
Though the floodwaters have subsided, the civil defence is expecting more to be evacuated to the two relief centres.
The Meteorological Department forecasted thunderstorms in several areas in Penampang and Putatan today.
Other areas affected by yesterday’s flood were Tuaran, Telipok, and Manggatal. – July 1, 2024