Calamity state in Maguindanao town; 2 die in Cotabato floods
COTABATO CITY—The local government of Datu Piang, Maguindanao del Sur, has placed the town under a state of calamity on Tuesday due to intense flooding that affected the residents in all its 16 villages.
“All villages are under water, but seven villages are severely affected, forcing families to evacuate to safer grounds,” Suhara Sapalon, the municipal disaster risk reduction and management officer, told the Inquirer.
This developed as a couple drowned in the floods in Koronadal City, South Cotabato, on Tuesday.
Cyrus Urbano, Koronadal City disaster risk reduction and management officer, said Christian Pederiso, 28, a delivery rider, and Jessa Mae Huesca, 24, a teacher, were crossing a river in Barangay Cacub when they were swept away by rampaging waters on Tuesday afternoon. Their bodies were recovered downstream.
The southern and central Mindanao regions have been experiencing torrential rains since Saturday due to the intertropical convergence zone.
Sapalon said the floods in Datu Piang displaced 1,045 families (5,225 people), who are now staying in seven evacuation centers in the town.
She said the municipal disaster risk reduction and management council (MDRRMC) had recommended the declaration of a state of calamity to authorize the local government to use its disaster response funds in providing relief aid to displaced families.
Datu Piang Mayor Victor Samama, who chairs the MDRRMC, on Tuesday approved the council resolution for the calamity state declaration.
Rampaging waters
Sapalon said that in some villages, floodwaters rose to as high as 1.21 meters (4 feet), or up until the neck level of an adult, forcing villagers to flee.
“We used to just stay at home and wait for the water to subside but this time the water is high and rampaging,” she said.
In Datu Anggal Midtimbang, Maguindanao del Sur, about 100 people in the village of Brar were rescued on Tuesday night when rampaging waters hit the village at past 10 p.m.
Bangsamoro interim Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua said the arrival of rescue workers from the Bangsamoro Rapid Emergency Action on Disaster Incidence (Readi) saved the residents, including children, after the Brar River overflowed due to heavy downpour in the province starting Tuesday afternoon.
“I was told the floods in Datu Anggal Midtimbang and Datu Odin Sinsuat towns reached as high as waist level,” Macacua told reporters. “In other areas only house roofs are visible.”
No flood-related casualty was reported, Macacua said, citing a report from Readi.
Director Joel Mamon of the Office of Civil Defense in the Bangsamoro region said that as of Tuesday, the floods had submerged 98 villages in 11 Maguindanao del Sur towns, affecting 38,689 families or 192,000 people.
