7,500 flee from floods in North Cotabato

KIDAPAWAN CITY, North Cotabato – At least 1,400 families or close to 7,500 individuals evacuated to higher ground when their homes in the towns of Matalam and Kabacan were flooded early Tuesday dawn.

David Don Saure, Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Officer (MDRRMO) in Kabacan, said at least 800 families from the villages of Kuyapon, Malamote, Upper Paatan and Bangilan were forced to leave their homes as floodwater reached waist level.

Saure said the Kabacan and Pulangi Rivers swelled and overflowed to low-lying villages.

“Moderate to heavy rains caused the rivers and other waterways to overflow and send runoff to residential and vast agricultural areas in the low-lying villages of the town,” Saure said.

Saure disclosed that hundreds of hectares of newly planted rice fields were also submerged in flood water.

Some of the villagers stayed with relatives, while those others moved beside the highway while waiting for the flood water to subside.

In nearby Matalam town, at least 600 families evacuated when the Malamote River overflowed on Tuesday dawn.

Engr. Marilyn Samson, the towns’ disaster officer, said the displaced families came from the villages of Poblacion, Lower Malamote, New Pandan and Taculen.  SFM