The floods in Terengganu have continued to worsen, with the number of evacuees in six districts rising to 4,062 as at 8am today from 3,292 at 10pm yesterday.

The state Welfare Department portal reported that nine more relief centres were opened overnight, bringing to 52 the number of relief centres as at 8am.

Terengganu Welfare Department acting director Rusmi Mahmood, when contacted by Bernama, said a total of 1,244 families had been affected by the floods which hit the state early yesterday.

"The district of Hulu Terengganu remains the worst hit with three more relief centres opened overnight. It has 2,268 people from 789 families at 24 relief centres.

"Kemaman has 595 people from 141 families at relief centres; Marang, 491 from 128 families; Besut, 299 from 72 families; Setiu, 296 from 87 families and Dungun, 113 from 27 families," he said.

The levels of three rivers in the state have breached the danger point while those of four more were above the alert stage, according to the portal of the state Drainage and Irrigation Department.

It reported that the level of Sungai Telemong at Kuala Ping near Hulu Terengganu was at 20.59 metres (above the danger point of 20 metres); Sungai Nerus at Kampung Langkap, 21.68 metres (21.50 metres) and Sungai Marang at the Pengkalan Berangan Bridge, 3.89 metres (3 metres).

It also reported that the level of Sungai Besut at Kampung La was 20.38 metres (above the alert point of 19.8 metres); Sungai Besut at the Keruak Bridge, 33.24 metres (33 metres);

Sungai Chalok at Setiu, 7.30 metres (7 metres) and Sungai Dungun at Kuala Jengah, 19.74 metres (19.50 metres).

The levels of all the rivers, except Sungai Chalok at Setiu, were reportedly dropping as at 8am.

Kota Baru - The floods in Kelantan have eased somewhat, thus reducing the number of evacuees to 1,823 from 474 families as at 9am from 1,872 people from 524 families last night.

Kelantan director of the Civil Defence Force Zainuddin Hussin said the relief centre at Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Legeh in Jeli was closed after the 49 evacuees there returned to their homes late last night.

"The evacuees at SK Legeh were allowed to return to their homes after the floodwaters in their village receded," he said when contacted by Bernama today.

Zainuddin said 839 people from 238 families still remained at 10 relief centres in the district of Kuala Krai; 666 people (167 families) at four centres in Jeli and 318 people (69 families) at seven centres in Tanah Merah.

He also said that the authorities had difficulty confirming the exact number of evacuees because some people registered twice and others registered as evacuees but returned to their homes.

Meanwhile Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Shahidan Kassim said he will ensure that there is strong coordination among rescue teams in disaster struck areas, particularly during the floods.

He said thousands of rescue personnel are on standby and most of them have had their leave frozen to ensure smooth running of operations.

"I believe that in the early stages, when it rained, they (the rescue team) might not have expected (the flood) to go up to that level.

"However they (rescue operations) are running smoothly...when information is received, all (assets and personnel) are mobilised accordingly," he told reporters at the Sultan Ismail Petra Airport in Pengkalan Chepa last night.

In a related development, Shahidan said there was also adequate food supply for victims prepared in advance through forward bases established in several strategic areas.

"I will not allow any food shortage to occur. When a disaster like this occurs, the victims should be given the best service, a 'royal' service, as they have been hit by a disaster," he said.

Floods began occurring in Kelantan and Terengganu yesterday with thousands of victims placed in relief centres, some of these relief centres set up in schools were unable to begin the schooling session.

- Bernama