Floods hit 200 villages in Central Mindanao

COTABATO CITY – Some 200 villages in Central Mindanao, in Maguindanao, North Cotabato provinces and in this city have been inundated since Saturday after large rivers crisscrossing the region overflowed because of heavy rains pervading in the region.

In Maguindanao alone, floods have affected 44,879 families in more than 100 barangays near rivers cascading from the 220,000-hectare Liguasan Marsh, according to provincial relief and medical mission head Lynette Estandarte.

“There could be more affected families since our count was based only on those we have supplied with food, water and other relief provisions. There are barangays that we haven’t served yet,” said Estandarte, who is the incumbent chief of Maguindanao’s provincial budget office.

Dozens of villages in North Cotabato have also been flooded, but the province’s disaster risk reduction management council has yet to report on the number of affected families.

Large portions of Kidapawan City, a component of North Cotabato, were plunged into total blackout on Tuesday and Wednesday after strong winds toppled trees and power lines.

Water level at the Liguasan Delta, a catch basin for more than a dozen rivers from the hinterlands in North Cotabato and South Cotabato, both in Region 12, and in Bukidnon in Region 10, has swelled tremendously since last Saturday, it was learned.

Reports from the office of Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu said 18 of the 36 towns in Maguindanao have been flooded since last weekend.

Worst hit by floods were Maguindanao’s Sultan Kudarat and Datu Piang towns, where more than a dozen barangays are flooded.

In Upi, a hinterland town in Maguindanao, municipal emergency workers, aided by personnel of the local police, rescued schoolchildren and elderly folk from villages along rivers that overflowed due to the heavy downpour.

A statement from Upi Mayor Ramon Piang said more than 20 families in lowlying areas in the municipal center were forced to relocate to a public gym when rampaging floodwaters swept through their yards.