47 families evacuated after strong winds blow off Bintulu apartment block roofing

BINTULU (Jan 18): A total of 184 people from 47 families were affected after the roofing of their homes in Iris Garden Apartment at Jalan Sultan Iskandar here were blown off by strong winds today.

Five vehicles that were parked in the area were also damaged in the incident by fallen debris.

According to senior operation commander of the Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) Bintulu, Mohammad Asyraf Ahmad, one temporary evacuation centre (PPS) has been opened at Dewan Asyakirin here with three of the families taking shelter there as of 5.30pm.

“There was damage to the roof structure of several apartment blocks as a result of the strong winds that hit the area.

“Six blocks of apartments were damaged on the roof structure which is estimated to be 80 per cent destroyed and five vehicles parked below were also damaged as they were hit by the debris of the roof structure,” he said.

Mohammad Asyraf said Bomba personnel had inspected the affected units and advised the residents to move to the PPS as their residents were not safe to stay at the moment.

Officials from relevant agencies including the police and the Welfare Department, as well as Tanjong Batu assemblyman Johnny Pang and his service centre team, were present at the site to assess the damage.

Earlier, Bomba received a distress call about the incident at 2.11pm and despatched rescue teams to the scene.

Bomba Bintulu zone chief Wan Kamaruddin Wan Ahmad said two other double-storey terraced houses at Taman Bukit Orang were badly damaged after their roofs got blown off by strong winds.

“One of the houses was completely damaged and the other house was 40 per cent destroyed,” he said.

He said a team of Bomba personnel were rushed to the scene after being informed about the incident at 2.55pm.

He added that there were no injuries reported in the incident, which also wreaked havoc in other parts of town with flash floods reported in several residential areas and some roads inundated.