JOHOR BARU: The Civil Defence Force has rescued 19 people from their flood-hit homes in Pontian.

       Its Johor director Kolonel Kamal Mokhtar said the victims, from Kampung Paya Embun in Pontian, had been relocated to a temporary relief centre in Sekolah Kebangsaan Melayu Raya.

       "As of noon on Thursday (Sept 2), we have opened one relief centre in SK Melayu Raya that houses 19 people from five families.

       "The rain continued for more than six hours and caused some of the houses to be flooded," he said in a statement.

       He added that the relief centre was opened at 11am and it was still drizzling at noon.

       "We have conducted surveillance on other districts as well but as of 2pm only two districts are affected, namely Johor Baru and Pontian," he said.