Thousands flee floods in 2 Mindanao provinces

NORTH COTABATO, Philippines – Some 3,000 families were forced to evacuate to higher grounds after heavy rains in the past three days swelled rivers straddling through the neighboring North Cotabato and Maguindanao provinces and flooded dozens of riverside villages.

Flooding worsened Friday in North Cotabato’s adjoining Mlang, Tulunan and Kabacan towns, and in Pikit and Pagalungan, both in Maguindanao after continuous rains raised the water level of the 220,000-hectare Liguasan Delta, which drains through the Rio Grande de Mindanao.

The floods that hit Pagalungan and Montawal destroyed more than a thousand hectares of rice and corn farms, according to local officials.

Col. Dickson Hermoso, spokesman for the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said military units in Pagalungan and Montawal were helping evacuate villagers as of press time.

“Our utmost concern is the safety of villagers in riverside areas that have not been evacuated to safer areas yet,” Hermoso said.

Low-lying areas in Pikit, North Cotabato have also been flooded since Friday, according to officers of the Army’s 7th Infantry Battalion.

Members of the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council of Mlang have confirmed that 11 barangays under their jurisdiction were submerged in floodwater.

Residents from the flooded barangays in Mlang – New Janiuay, Bagontapay, Buayan, Lepaga, Gaunan, Dugong, Dungoan, Inas, Bialong, Lika and New Antique – have been relocated to school buildings.

At least 80 families living in the low-lying areas of Barangay Minapan in Tulunan sought higher grounds after the Minampan and Maybula Rivers overflowed.

Local officials in Tulunan said irrigation dikes criss-crossing rice farms in the surroundings of Barangay Minapan also swelled and overflowed.

The floodwaters swept away farm animals and crops.

Education officials ordered the suspension of classes in eight villages in Kabacan town.