1,400 flood-hit Kudarat families still in evacuation centers

Koronadal City – Of the 7,302 families affected by floods in Lambayong town in Sultan Kudarat, some 1,400 are still staying in evacuation centers.

These families cannot yet return to their houses as the floodwaters in their barangays unpredictably rise and subside, said Henry Albano, chief of the provincial social welfare and development office and provincial disaster coordinating council.

Albano said the remaining evacuees are afraid to return to their communities after getting reports that more typhoons are expected before the year ends.

He said the 7,302 families were affected by the swelling of Allah River that flooded 6,000 hectares of farmlands due to heavy rains spawned by typhoon “Frank” last June.

Agricultural losses reached P155 million, and damage to infrastructure, including the 15-kilometer highway connecting Lambayong and Sultan sa Barongis town in Maguindanao, was estimated at P179 million.

The STAR learned that in the entire province, a total of 12,454 families in the towns of Palembang, Lebak, Kalamansig, Isulan, Esperanza, Lambayong, Bagumbayan and Sen. Ninoy Aquino were affected by the flooding.

Worst hit was Barangay Zeneben in Lambayong town where 251 hectares of farmlands were covered with mud as the floodwaters subsided.

Sultan Kudarat Gov. Datu Suharto Mangudadatu has provided the affected residents with bancas for their transportation and livelihood.

Zeneben officials thanked the municipal and provincial governments, the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the government-United Nations ACT for Peace Program for extending food assistance to the evacuees.

The ACT for Peace Program, in coordination with the coalition of peace and development advocates in South-Central Mindanao, also extended assistance to 351 families in two barangays in adjacent Sultan sa Barongis town by giving them plastic water containers.

The residents of the two villages were reportedly trapped in their houses as creeks overflowed at the height of typhoon Frank.