Flashfloods displace close to 400 families in Cotabato town

AFTERMATH A rice field is flattened after flash floods hit Tulunan, Cotabato. — Williamor MagbanuaI

KIDAPAWAN CITY, COTABATO, Philippines — Flash floods caused by moderate to heavy rainfall in Cotabato province displaced at least 392 families in Tulunan town this week, disaster response officials said on Wednesday.

Ernie Diaz, disaster response officer of Tulunan, said at least 200 families in Barangay Damawato, 134 in Barangay Minapan and 58 in Barangay Maybula fled their homes and evacuated to higher grounds as most houses and farms in the area were submerged in floodwaters triggered by the overflow of the Bula River after days of continuous rains.

“We implemented forced evacuation to save affected families from the rising floodwaters that entered their homes,” Diaz told reporters here.

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Diaz said the displaced families were already anxious to return to their communities on Wednesday morning to salvage their belongings and farm animals.

At least 100 hectares of rice fields, some crops already in the fruiting stage, had been flattened by the floods in the three barangays. At least eight carabaos and countless goats and chickens were swept away by floods, reports said.

School authorities canceled classes at Minapan Elementary School and Minapan High School and at Galidan Elementary School as their grounds were flooded. Modules, books, and laptops were damaged after these were soaked in floodwaters.

Jonathan Alacapa, village chair of Minapan, said the clogging of the Bula River at the height of the rains caused it to overflow and flood the low-lying villages nearby.

He said construction debris from an irrigation project and agricultural waste clogged and hampered the flow of water in the Bula River.

The local government said it would extend aid to affected farmers and villagers whose houses were damaged.