Maguindanao (Image from Google Maps)
DATU MONTAWAL, Maguindanao – At least 10 villages here have been submerged in floodwaters since Saturday dawn when the Kabacan River overflowed following the landfall of Typhoon Storm “Vinta” in northern Mindanao.
Vice Mayor Oto Montawal said some 15,000 individuals have been affected by the flood, many of whom have evacuated beside the national highway linking North Cotabato and Maguindanao.
Residents who have grown resilient to recurring floods every time heavy down pour hit Bukidnon and Agusan del Sur quickly put up shanties at the roadside, making the two-lane road network narrower.
The Kabacan River which flows water toward the Maguindanao marshland emanates water from Agusan River and Pulangi River in Bukidnon.
Baidido Atong, a resident of Barangay Bulit, Datu Montawal town, said her family prefers to stay at the roadside fronting the family home which was already underwater since Saturday dawn. “We have nowhere to go, we will just wait for the water to recede,” she told the Inquirer.
Traffic along portions of the national highway had been stalled for several hours as the floodwater overflowed through the concrete road.
The Malitubog-Maridagao River also swelled at 5 a.m., inundating several villages in Pikit town in North Cotabato, affecting a number of residents.
Several passenger vans were stuck in the flooded streets, deteriorating traffic. Motorists endured three hours of travel from Datu Montawal to Kabacan town in North Cotabato that they used to traverse in five minutes only.
As of 7 p.m. on Saturday, the floodwater continued to rise, according to village official Kagi Karon of Barangay Bulit.
The village of Kayaga in Kabacan, North Cotabato was also submerged in floods, including vast tract of rice fields.
Rice fields, homes, and public schools in Barangay Malabuaya, Datu Montawal were also submerged in floods. No reported casualty in the disaster.