NORTH COTABATO, Philippines - Hundreds of Muslim and Christian families were dislocated as flashfloods swept through farming enclaves in Kabacan town in North Cotabato.
Municipal officials on Saturday said the evacuations started Monday, after big rivers straddling through the affected barangays overflowed due to heavy rains.
Reports obtained from the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council indicated that a total of 8,435 families have been displaced as of Friday.
Radio reports said several barangays in North Cotabato’s Midsayap, Mlang, Aleosan and Pikit towns have also been flooded.
In an emailed statement, North Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza said she has dispatched relief workers to attend to the needs of the flood victims.
Most of the flooded areas in Pikit, Aleosan, Mlang and Midsayap are located along the 220,000-hectare Liguasan Delta, a geographical catch basin for large rivers that springs from forested hinterlands in surrounding provinces.