Cotabato City (CNN Philippines) – An uprooted coconut tree fell and killed a woman and injured another as days of continuous rain submerged several towns in Maguidanao.
The dead woman was identified as 29-year-old Monera Arsad and the injured was 60-year-old Katigia Arsad, according to the Humanitarian Emergency Assistance Response Team (HEART) and the Office of Civil Defense in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanano (ARMM).
The Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (PDRRM) immediately dispatched rescue teams to the affected towns – namely, Pandag, Datu Paglas, Buluan, Raja Buayan, Sultan sa Barongis and Datu Salibo
According to Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu, water from the Dumangil Dam in South Cotabato overflowed to several rivers in Datu Paglas and caused massive floods that submerged entire communities.
Mangudadatu added that he immediately directed the provincial office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development to distribute relief goods to families affected by the flood.
He said that if heavy rain fall continued in to the next few days, more towns might also be flooded.
Maguindanao and Cotabato City are known as catch basins of water coming from Bukidnon, North and South Cotabato through the Rio Grande de Mindanao, which passes through the Liguasan Marsh.
According to the report released by HEART, Sultan Sa Barongis was the worst hit, where 2, 913 families from 12 barangays were evacuated to the municipal gym and DSWD municipal office, among other sites.
In Datu Salibo, a total of 500 families from 12 barangyas were displaced, while flooding in nearby Datu Paglas was reported to have reached a neck-high level.
