Floods displace 3,000 in Maguindanao

COTABATO CITY—The effects of a dry spell, brought about by the weather phenomenon El Niño, have barely dissipated when  flooding started to bring more misery to Maguindanao province.

At least 3,000 residents of six Maguindanao towns had been displaced by flood brought by rain from a low pressure area over Mindanao, according to disaster response officials.

The provincial disaster risk reduction management office said water levels also continued to rise in other low-lying areas of Maguindanao, including those near the Liguasan Marsh, as a result of the rain.

Myrna Jo Henry, speaking for the Humanitarian Emergency Response Action Team of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Heart-ARMM), said at least 25 villages have so far been inundated since Tuesday.

The worst-hit villages are Solon and Tariken, both in Sultan Mastura town. The town is beside Rio Grande de Mindanao and Simuay River.

Families trapped

“At one point, water in these villages reached as deep as 6 feet,” Henry told the Inquirer.

She said 34 families in Solon and Tariken had initially been trapped as the Simuay River overflowed when the flood control dike collapsed.

Rescue workers facilitated the evacuation of the 34 families.

“These are perennial flood-prone communities,” Henry said.

The displaced families in Sultan Mastura opted to stay with their relatives,

who were spared by the flooding, she said. —EDWIN FERNANDEZ