Ringlet and Lembah Bertam residents have been allowed to return home following fine weather conditions since yesterday and also because the Sungai Ringlet water level was back to normal.  

Cameron Highlands district police chief DSP Wan Zahari Wan Busu said that although work was being carried out to deepen the river in the area, residents need not worry as the Fire and Rescue Department as well as the Malaysian Civil Defence Department were closely monitoring the situation in the event of recurrent floods.

He said many of the houses were damaged by floods since Wednesday and cleaning work was being carried out by the residents themselves with the help of the volunteer fire brigade.

“If they are unable to complete cleaning their houses, they can still stay at the Ringlet Multipurpose Community Hall until the situation is restored to normal,” he told Bernama today.

Wan Zahari said the number of victims at evacuation centres until now remained at 91 people from 28 families.

A survey by Bernama at the hall found the flood victims busy packing to return to clean up their houses and save items that could still be salvaged.

At Lembah Bertam, Bernama found the disaster management control room closed following the return of Sungai Bertam to normal condition.

In the 6.30pm incident on Wednesday, residents on the banks of the Sungai Bertam, near Cameron Highlands, were directed to evacuate when the water in the Sultan Abu Bakar Dam was released in stages because the water level started increasing rapidly due to heavy rain.

Ringlet Town was also hit by flash floods when the water level in the river nearby overflowed the river banks following heavy rain for one hour.

In the incident, five victims were killed while five others were injured.

- Bernama