Flash floods hit several villages in Maguindanao

SULTAN KUDARAT, Maguindanao, Philippines – Heavy rainfall since Friday night has spawned flash floods in more than a hundred low-lying villages here and in nearby towns, destroying crops and forcing hundreds of families to evacuate to higher grounds.

Worst-hit are the farming communities along the banks of Simuay River, which traverses villages at the boundary of this town and Cotabato City.

Engineer Norie Unas, provincial administrator, said flash floods also swept through villages in adjoining Kabuntalan and Northern Kabuntalan towns.

Unas said they have mobilized the provincial social welfare and health offices to attend to the needs of the affected residents.

“Just two days ago we received good news on the government’s suspension of military offensive against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, to which the MILF immediately responded positively. Now, the bad news is that the areas affected by the recent conflict are flooded,” Unas said.

Residents in Barangays Bulalo, Salimbao and Katuli here have sought temporary shelter at school campuses.

Richard Sebastian, who works in a hardware store in Cotabato City, said it was just fortunate that he managed to evacuate members of his family before the floodwaters rose just before dawn yesterday.

Members of the Army’s 37th Infantry Battalion and units of the ARMM police have been deployed in the flooded barangays to help evacuate affected residents.