Telupid district officer Celestine Jetony, who also chairs the district disaster management committee, officially declared the end of the flood disaster.

“Based on field reports and information from our agencies, I hereby declare that all PPS are closed as of 8am following inspections confirming that the affected residents’ homes are safe to be occupied,” she said.

Heavy rainfall on the evening of Feb 26 caused flooding in several villages in the Paitan and Telupid districts.

Several relief centres were opened in Telupid that night, followed by additional centres in Paitan the next day.

All the centres in Paitan were closed yesterday evening as floodwaters receded and homes were deemed safe to be occupied.

Meanwhile, 350 evacuees from 102 families housed at five centres in Telupid were allowed to return home from 8am today.

Telupid and Paitan are located in Sabah’s interior, about 200km and 230km east of Kota Kinabalu, respectively.