The roofing of Iris Garden Apartment in Jalan Sultan Tengah ripped off by strong wind on Jan 18, 2024.

BINTULU, Jan 18: A windstorm unleashed chaos at Iris Garden Apartment in Jalan Sultan Tengah, Bintulu, ripping off the roofs of six apartment blocks and impacting 184 residents from 47 families today.

Responding to the emergency at 2.11pm, Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) Bintulu reported that the roofing on each block is estimated to have sustained 80 per cent damage due to the destructive winds.

A unit without roof after a windstorm caused havoc at Iris Garden Apartment in Jalan Sultan Tengah, Bintulu on Jan 18, 2024.
Five cars are also damaged after blown off roofing landed on them at Iris Garden Apartment in Jalan Sultan Tengah, Bintulu on Jan 18, 2024.

In addition to the structural damage, five cars parked beneath one of the blocks also incurred various degrees of damage after the roofs landed on them.

Bomba strongly advised some of the severely affected families to temporarily relocate to an evacuation centre as the current condition of their units is deemed unsuitable for occupancy at the moment.

As of 5.30pm, three families had already registered at the temporary evacuation centre (PPS) located at Dewan Asyakirin.

Pang (in white shirt) on-site to oversee the situation at Iris Garden Apartment in Jalan Sultan Tengah, Bintulu on Jan 18, 2024.
Bomba’s Emergency Medical Rescue Services (EMRS) ambulance on-site at Iris Garden Apartment in Jalan Sultan Tengah, Bintulu on Jan 18, 2024.

Tanjong Batu assemblyman Johnny Pang was also seen at the site to oversee the situation.

After securing the safety of the surroundings, Bomba Bintulu concluded their operation at 5.05pm.

The case had now been handed over to the police and welfare agencies which were present on-site for further necessary actions. — DayakDaily