KUALA LUMPUR — Continuous heavy rain has resulted in floods in several low-lying areas in seven Malaysian states, with more people being evacuated to relief centers (PPS) on Sunday morning.

Two districts in Sabah — Telupid and Sandakan — are the latest to be hit by the floods, after Kota Marudu, Paitan and Beluran.

The State Disaster Management Secretariat said in a statement that the number of flood evacuees districts has increased to 717 people from 212 families, up from 566 people on Saturday night.

Sixteen areas in Paitan were affected by the floods, followed by 10 in Kota Marudu, two in Telupid and one each in Beluran and Sandakan.

Heavy monsoon rains have forced more than 1,500 people to flee their homes to escape flooding, news reports said on Saturday.

Since the drenching rains began on Sunday, Malaysians in six districts of Pahang state in the northeast peninsula region have been evacuated from their homes, the national Bernama news agency said.

Dozens of people sought shelter in community halls and schools in the neighboring states of Johor, Terengganu and Kelantan, according to news reports.

The northeast monsoon normally starts in mid-November and ends in March.

Malaysia's Information Minister Mohamed Rahmat, who oversees the national disaster management task force, said the heavy rains were not due to La Nina, the meteorological sister of the El Nino weather pattern which brought drought to much of Southeast Asia last year.

Kota Marudu remained the district with the highest number of flood victims, with 253 of them at the relief at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Tandek, while another 251 victims were at the relief center at Sekolah Kebangsaan Teritipan.

In Melaka, the number of evacuees rose to 1,122 people as of 8 a.m. on Sunday, up from 677 people at 8 p.m. on Saturday.

Melaka Civil Defense Department director Lt. Col. Cuthbert John Martin Quadra said all the victims were from 11 areas in Alor Gajah, 11 areas in Melaka Tengah, and three areas in Jasin.

"A total of 653 victims, involving 172 families, are at eight PPS in Alor Gajah, while 437 victims (101 families) are at two PPS in Melaka Tengah, and another 32 victims (six families) are at a PPS in Jasin,” he said in a statement on Sunday.

In Johor, the number of flood evacuees in the Segamat and Tangkak districts continued to rise, totaling 1,646 people as of 8 a.m. on Sunday, up from 1,167 people at 8pm on Saturday.

State Health and Environment Committee chairman R. Vidyananthan said eight more relief centers were activated in Segamat. This brings the total number of relief centers in the district to 27. One relief center had been opened in Tangkak.

Rain was reported in eight districts, with cloudy weather in Tangkak and Pontian, he added. Water levels in two major rivers in the state — Sungai Segamat in Bandar Segamat and Sungai Tangkak ini Kampung Sri Makmur, Tangkak — are still above the danger level.

In Pahang, the State Disaster Management Committee Secretariat reported that there were 1,804 flood victims at 39 relief centers in eight districts.

Of the total, 649 people are victims of the second wave of floods in Raub, Lipis, Bera, Maran and Rompin districts.

According to the Drainage and Irrigation Department’s (DID) website, water levels in six rivers in the state are still above the danger level.

The Meteorology Department has forecast rain in all districts in Pahang on Sunday. In Negeri Sembilan, the Social Welfare Department’s InfoBencana app showed 1,767 flood victims from 460 families at 16 relief centers in the state as of 7am on Sunday.

In Kelantan, the number of flood victims remained at 308 people at five relief centers, comprising four in Kuala Krai and one in Jeli as of 8 a.m. on Sunday.

The DID’s official portal reported on Sunday that water levels in all major rivers in the state have receded to below the danger level, with four rivers still above the warning level.

In Terengganu, the number of evacuees remained at 147 people from 44 families at three relief centers on Sunday morning.

In Dungun, the number of victims at Dewan Orang Ramai Kampung Shukor remained at 68 people from 20 families, with 69 people at Dewan Orang Ramai Kampung Pasir Raja, and 10 people at Surau Kampung Ban Ho in Kemaman.

The water levels in major rivers in the state have also receded to below the danger level, with three rivers still above the warning level. — Agencies