Terengganu telemetric stations to undergo maintenance for flood season

KUALA TERENGGANU: All 40 telemetric stations in Terengganu will undergo major maintenance until next month as the Irrigation and Drainage Department (DID) prepares to support the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) with real-time information on floods.

Information, such as rainfall reading and water levels in rivers from the stations, would be transmitted to the DID headquarters before it is shared with other agencies under Nadma, including district offices, Fire and Rescue Department and civil defence.

“Information will be received on an hourly basis via a messaging application. Officers involved in flood relief will receive the same information at the same time,” state DID director Idrus Ahmad told the New Straits Times.

He said DID would be the first line of defence in a flood situation and as such, the telemetric stations must be functional to enable agencies to respond immediately to evacuate flood victims.

Idrus said due to downpours, more than 2,200mm of rain had been recorded, nearly reaching its annual range of between 3,000mm and 3,400mm.

“We have been getting a lot of rain this year. The amount of rainfall spread over the months matched the volume normally received in December and January where Terengganu usually experiences massive floods.

“But there were no big floods last year and early this year. The Meteorological Department forecast normal floods this year, unless something changes the weather pattern in the next four months.”

Idrus said DID would provide real-time information to Nadma so that residents in flood-prone areas could be evacuated to relief centres at a moment’s notice.