16,000 families displaced by floods in Mindanao

SAFE STORAGE Rice and corn farmers prepare to haul agricultural supplies to safer grounds as floodwater at Barangay Aringay in Kabacan, Cotabato, submerged several villages on Wednesday. —PHOTO COURTESY OF BOMBO MAMACAN

COTABATO CITY — Continuous heavy rains spawned by an intertropical convergence zone on Tuesday and Wednesday had left two persons dead and at least 16,000 families displaced in Cotabato and Maguindanao del Sur provinces, authorities said.

As of Thursday, the flood still persisted in most areas even as the rains had stopped.

Arnulfo Villaruz, Cotabato provincial disaster risk reduction and management officer, said one of the fatalities was Ebrahim Acob, 14, of Matalam town. Acob crossed the Mateo River on Wednesday afternoon to fetch his younger brother from the other bank but he was swept away by the raging waters.

The other fatality was farmer Vienvinido Tiu of Magpet town who was swept away by Mindanao floods while crossing a bridge on Tuesday afternoon amid a swollen river. His body was found a few kilometers downstream.

Heavy rains dumped on Tuesday and Wednesday swelled the Kabacan River, bringing flash floods that submerged residential areas in Kabacan and Pikit towns in Cotabato as well as Pagalungan and Pagagawan towns in Maguindanao del Sur.

In Kabacan, Rosalie Badoy, municipal disaster risk reduction and management officer, said inundated areas in the town included the villages of Poblacion and Aringay where water rose to as high as 3.048 meters (10 feet).

“Water started to rise at past midnight on Wednesday after a daylong moderate to heavy downpour [on] Tuesday,” Badoy said in a statement. The displaced families are staying in the covered courts in their villages.

Trapped

Kabacan Mayor Evangeline Pascua-Guzman thanked rescue teams from the nearby towns of Carmen and Matalam for helping evacuate families trapped in their homes due to sudden rise of floodwater.

In President Roxas town, motorists were stranded for several hours on Wednesday after rampaging floodwaters damaged a detour bridge in Barangay del Carmen.

In Pagalungan, Maguindanao del Sur, vast rice fields were inundated when the Malitubog-Maridagao, Pulangi, and Kabacan rivers overflowed.

Benjamin Alip, Pagalungan disaster response officer, said at least 9,100 families (about 45,000 people) were affected when their homes were submerged in what residents described as neck-high floodwater in the town’s 11 villages.

At least 7,000 families (35,000 people) were affected by floods in nearby Datu Montawal towns, said Balumol Kadiding, municipal disaster response officer. Kadiding said nine of the town’s 11 villages were submerged in waist-deep floodwater.

Displaced residents set up tents along the national highway while waiting for floodwaters to recede. But some chose to stay in flooded villages using their motorized banca as temporary shelter.

READ: Heavy rainfall submerge 35 Bulacan villages in floodwater