8 villages turn into ‘ghost’ barangays

Koronadal City – Thousands of families were displaced after heavy rains that started Tuesday last week, unleashed floods in two towns in Sultan Kudarat province, officials said yesterday.

The Allah River and its tributaries overflowed their banks after six days of heavy rains, leaving houses, roads and schools in the towns of Esperanza and Lambayong under three feet of water, Saturnino Garcia, information officer of Sultan Kudarat 2nd District Rep. Datu Pax Mangudadatu told The STAR in a long distance interview yesterday.

Garcia said he could not yet give the exact number of the damages since Mangudadatu, his son Sultan Kudarat Gov. Datu Suharto Mangudadatu and other officials of the province are due to meet today to assess the damage caused by the continuous rains.

He said the barangays hit by floods brought by “Butchoy” became “ghost villages” because they were all under floodwaters. Garcia said the Mangudadatus and the town officials have continually extended foods assistance to the affected families.

In a long distance interview yesterday, Lambayong Mayor Ramon Abalos told The STAR that six barangays of his town were flooded, displacing 1,500 families and destroying millions of farmlands, government properties and agricultural crops.

Abalos said the flooded barangays in his town were Kabulakan, Madanding, Sigayan, Tinomigues, Pinguia­man and Sadsalan.

He said the national road going to Pinguiaman was cut off to motorists due to above the knee floodwaters. He added the access to the town proper and to other barangays is only through motorized bancas.

In Esperanza town, two barangays were flooded, displacing also more than 500 families there.

Governor Mangudadatu said town officials of Lambayong and Esperanza have already declared the affected barangays under a state of calamity.

Mangudadatu said he has instructed disaster officials to closely monitor the situations of other towns, fearing of another barangays to be flooded there, since the rains continued to fall until yesterday.