Its headmaster, Suhaimi Wahab said so far total losses had not been assessed but most of the school’s furniture and teaching aids were destroyed by flood waters and mud.
“Actually, we moved all teaching equipment and school furniture to higher ground.
“But last Wednesday, after a staff meeting, we decided to bring down all the items to their original spots as the new school session was to begin on Sunday, and the weather then was fair with no sign of an impending flood.
“Suddenly on Saturday, torrential rains came and the school was flooded…we could not move the things back to higher ground in time,” he said when met by Bernama at the school today.
Suhaimi said water rose up to two metres, damaging textbooks, cooperative stocks, sports equipment, cupboards and a teacher’s car.
“Five buildings were flooded including eight classrooms and the teachers’ quarters were also under 1.5 metres of water…thick mud covered the entire school grounds.
“It is normal for the school to be flooded…but not all things were damaged as they were usually moved to higher ground before the school holidays,” he said.
Suhaimi said he was thankful however to firemen who helped clean the school today.
“We were helpless with the enormous task ahead, more so water and electricity supply had been cut since yesterday.
“InsyaAllah (God willing), the school will be ready for the new session tomorrow as we have almost finished cleaning up,” he said.
Meanwhile, Terengganu Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) director, Salimi Yusoff said about 30 Mara volunteers joined in cleaning up a number of schools in the district today.
“We understand their predicament due to the disaster as we had also been hit by floods some years ago.
“InsyaAllah, we will also go to other districts to help in the cleaning-up operations as part of our corporate social responsibility,” he said.
However latest reports say that the flood situation in Terengganu has improved, with the number of evacuees down to 298 at six relief centres from 884 at noon.
Malaysia Civil Defence Force, Terengganu director, Lt Col Che Adam A Rahman said as at 5pm today, only six relief centres remained open, namely three in Hulu Terengganu, two in Dungun and one in Marang.
“Hulu Terengganu has 173 flood victims housed at Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Nibong, Kampung Bukit Tadok relief centre and Kampung Getang community hall.
“In Dungun, 95 evacuees are sheltered at the Paka Civic Hall and SK Durian Mentangau, while in Marang, there are only 30 evacuees left at SK Pasir Putih,” he said.