RESCUE EFFORTS. Disaster workers of Bagumbayan, Sultan Kudarat help rescue residents trapped by rampaging floodwaters on Sunday night (June 27, 2021) night following a daylong heavy downpour that submerged the village of Dagoma in the area. Some 800 families from the village were evacuated to safer grounds by rescue workers as chest-deep waters submerged several low-lying sitios of the village. (Photo courtesy of Lovely Joy Hallegado, SK PDRRMO)
COTABATO CITY – At least 800 families in a remote village in Sultan Kudarat province have been displaced by flooding following a heavy downpour Sunday night.
Dagoma was among the villages heavily affected by flooding in Sultan Kudarat's Bagumbayan town.
Dagoma village chairperson Merilo Cordero said the flood rose to about five feet deep that destroyed 53 homes in the area.
Cordero said the most affected sub-villages are Sitio Singko, Sais, Uno, Dos, Lower Linapawan, and Sitio Cabuling, all in Dagoma village.
“The floods carried mud, and debris composed of small fallen trees, cut logs, tree branches, and rocks,” he said in the vernacular over a phone interview on Monday.
Cordero said the floods started to rise at 5 p.m. following a daylong continuous downpour and people by nighttime fled toward safer grounds.
Early on Monday, the villagers returned to their homes to find waist-deep mud and debris in their residences, Cordero said.
“Everybody was surprised by the sudden rise of floodwaters,” Cordero said, adding that residents whose houses were damaged are now staying at the barangay plaza and the elementary school buildings.
The municipal and provincial governments have extended emergency relief goods to displaced families, many of whom are rice farmers.
Lovely Joy Hallegado, Sultan Kudarat provincial disaster risk reduction and management officer, said the amount of damage to properties and crops is still being determined.
No casualty was reported as a result of the floods. (PNA)
