Rising waters stop Maguindanao folk from returning home
READY TO HELP Soldiers help residents of Barangay Tuka in Mamasapano, Maguindanao del Sur, cross flooded streets as they conduct rescue operations on Monday. The floods hit at least 18 towns in the Maguindanao provinces. —PHOTO COURTESY OF 33RD INFANTRY BATTALION, PHILIPPINE ARMY
COTABATO CITY—Rising floodwaters are preventing the return of over 34,000 families to their homes and communities in Maguindanao del Sur province, officials said on Tuesday.
Instead, more families have evacuated their homes to avoid being hit by rampaging waters even as the rains had already stopped.
Torrential rains spawned by an intertropical convergence zone affecting mainland Mindanao triggered floods in the province on Saturday.
READ: Maguindanao floods displace 15,000 families
Director Joel Mamon of the Office of Civil Defense in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (OCD-BARMM) said that as of Tuesday, the floods had submerged 98 villages in 11 towns, affecting 34,187 households, or 170,935 people.
There had been no reported casualties so far.
According to Mamon, most of the evacuees are staying with relatives, and only 178 families are housed in an evacuation center in Datu Sangki Ampatuan Elementary School in Ampatuan town.
Three houses in Ampatuan were damaged due to landslides during continuous downpours spawned by the intertropical convergence zone that affects Maguindanao del Sur.
The heavy rains had flooded towns along the national highway like Datu Abdullah Sangki, Ampatuan, Shariff Aguak and Datu Saudi Ampatuan. Also flooded are the low-lying villages in towns around the Liguasan Marsh like Mamasapano, Rajah Buayan, Sultan sa Barongis, Datu Piang, Datu Salibo, General SK Pendatun, Pagalungan, Datu Anggal Midtimbang, Talayan, and Datu Montawal, all in Maguindanao del Sur
The towns of Kabuntalan, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Talitay, and Northern Kabuntalan in Maguindanao del Norte province are also flooded.
No more rain
Bai Ali of the Datu Piang municipal disaster risk reduction and management office (MDRRMO) said water continued to rise although the rains had stopped in the town.
About 30 families affected by floods are now housed at the town’s covered court, she added.
The marshland catches rainwater flowing through rivers from Sultan Kudarat and South Cotabato provinces, merging with waters from the Pulangi River coming from Bukidnon and Cotabato provinces, before these drain into the Moro Gulf fronting Maguindanao del Norte.
On Monday, government troops from the Army’s 33rd Infantry Battalion, in coordination with village officials and the Mamasapano MDRRMO, extended assistance to communities in Barangay Tuka.
Soldiers led by Capt. John Vincent Vargas conducted relief efforts and assisted motorists to safely cross deep floodwaters in the village. INQ
