Paralyzed old woman plucked out of Cotabato flood

KIDAPAWAN CITY – An elderly stroke victim was plucked by rescuers from a house here at the height of the floods that hit Cotabato Province in Mindanao and affected this city’s low-lying areas on Wednesday.

Ritchie Sollano, a member of the city’s 911 rescue unit, said the elderly woman was unable to move out of her home on Datu Piang Street, where she was alone at the time the waist-deep flood struck.

“She has difficulty moving around after suffering from stroke in the past. Her lower body had been paralyzed,” Sollano said.

He said it took rescuers some time to rescue the elderly because of the strong current.

The rampaging flood, triggered by about two hours of rains, also submerged several other houses in the area but no one was harmed, Sollano said.

In nearby Matalam and Mlang towns in North Cotabato, the Malamote River swelled and submerged rice fields, which had been dried up by the drought.

Former Barangay Inas, Mlang village chair Rafael Porras said the flood was a welcome development as it softened the rice fields.

“It made it easy for us to prepare our land for the scheduled synchronized planting this June,” Porras said.