Kedah civil defence force spokesman Faizol Ab Aziz said 22 personnel were deployed to rescue the villagers while two temporary relief centres were opened to house the evacuees.

In a statement, Faizol said heavy rain had caused a nearby river to overflow its banks, flooding several houses in the village.

“The waters rose quickly and inundated several houses,” he said, adding that there was torrential rain in several areas in the Baling district.

The number of evacuees was not stated.

Kampung Iboi has been repeatedly hit by floods, including during the devastating Baling floods on July 4 last year which claimed four lives and resulted in losses estimated at RM28 million.

Just last week, the entire area of Kampung Iboi and Kampung Padang Empang were flooded after a downpour. A total of 112 people from 33 families were forced to evacuate to two temporary relief centres.

Last night, the number of flood evacuees in Kedah increased substantially from 81 to 701 as of 8pm, according to Bernama.

The Kedah disaster management secretariat said the 701 evacuees from 201 families resided in the Kubang Pasu, Kota Setar and Pokok Sena districts.