Baling floods: Aerial survey shows no broken reservoir

BALING - An observation from a helicopter in Gunung Inas shows that there were no broken reservoirs which was said to be the cause of the water surge in Kampung Iboi, Mukim Kupang, here on Monday.

Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor said this after conducting an observation from above with the police on Wednesday afternoon.

He said the waters had pooled at the mountain before quickly flowing through multiple slopes towards the Kupang river.

"From a rough visual observation from above, I saw waters accumulating excessively all at once and there were multiple paths formed in Gunung Inas flowing to the steep slopes and causing a fast current in Lata Celak," he said on Thursday.

Sanusi said this was the initial conclusion following the observation from above in Gunung Inas where the water flowed until the musang king durian plantation area which was said to be the cause of the flood incident that claimed three lives.

He said the reservoir built in the musang king project area and the water collection area for water to be pumped into the pond was still intact.

"There were no cracks and it did not break. Along the path where the water flowed, the big trees that were not cut down to clear the area for forest farming were still there.

"The conclusion for now before receiving the reports from technical departments such as the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) and Department of Minerals and Geoscience Malaysia (JMG) is that waters had fastly flowed down a steep slope from many water sources and merged into a stream in Lata Celak that flowed into Sungai Kupang," he said.

On Monday, it was reported that three people have died in a flood incident in Kampung Iboi, here, while 1,400 residents were moved to three temporary evacuation centres (PPS).

A total of 15 homes were destroyed after being swept away by flood waters.