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Heavy downpour floods NoCot’s 1st district

By Edwin Fernandez

August 5, 2020, 11:02 am

<p><strong>SUBMERGED.</strong> A house in Barangay Kitacubong, Alamada gets flooded due to heavy rains brought by a low-pressure area affecting North Cotabato and the rest of Mindanao on Tuesday (Aug. 4, 2020). At least six towns in the first district of the province were affected by floods due to the extreme weather condition. <em>(Photo courtesy of North Cotabato Board Member Shirley Macasarte)</em></p>

SUBMERGED. A house in Barangay Kitacubong, Alamada gets flooded due to heavy rains brought by a low-pressure area affecting North Cotabato and the rest of Mindanao on Tuesday (Aug. 4, 2020). At least six towns in the first district of the province were affected by floods due to the extreme weather condition. (Photo courtesy of North Cotabato Board Member Shirley Macasarte)

MIDSAYAP, North Cotabato – Heavy rains have flooded low-lying areas in North Cotabato’s first district on Tuesday.

Aside from this town, the five-hour downpour on Tuesday afternoon until evening also affected the municipalities of Banisilan, Alamada, Libungan, Aleosan, and Pigcawayan, all in the province’s first district.

North Cotabato Board Member Shirley Macasarte said it was her first time to see floods in Midsayap in just less than an hour of heavy downpour.

“Many questions were raised why the sudden flood. It was not happening in the past,” Macasarte said in an interview.

She said clogged drainage canals could have contributed to the sudden surge of water after heavy rains.

Floods started at past 4 p.m. as the region experienced heavy rains due to a low-pressure area affecting Mindanao.

Mayor Jesus Sacdalan of Alamada, North Cotabato said nearly 3,000 residents have been affected by flash floods in his area.

“Roads that we have repaired after landslides and flashfloods last month are now destroyed anew,” Sacdalan said in a separate interview with reporters on Wednesday.

He urged Public Works Secretary Mark Villar to consider Alamada among his priorities in road repairs and construction of bridges so as not to hamper the delivery of services, as well as food and farm products to the market.

North Cotabato Governor Nancy Catamco has ordered the provincial disaster risk reduction and management office (PDRRMO) to hasten their evaluation to determine the amount of assistance the province would provide to affected sectors.

“I am giving the PDRRMO to submit a report within the day (Wednesday),” she said.

No casualty was reported due to the floods as an assessment on the extent of damage was ongoing. (PNA)

 

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