BLOCKED PASSAGE. Mountain rocks filled the access road in Barangay Poblacion, President Roxas town, North Cotabato, following flash floods that hit the area due to heavy rains on Tuesday (July 4, 2023). Inset shows one of two fatalities in the flooding. (Photo courtesy of Jastine Dejecacion)
KIDAPAWAN CITY, North Cotabato – Flash floods brought by heavy rains in the past three days left two dead and forced some 1,700 families to vacate their homes in North Cotabato province, an official said Thursday.
Engr. Arnolfo Villaruz, the provincial disaster risk reduction and management office (PDRRMO) chief, identified the casualties as Luzviminda Dubria, 68, and Jennifer Fortunada, 42, both of Sitio Upper Ipuan, Barangay Poblacion, President Roxas town.
"The victims were swept away by the flashfloods following a heavy downpour on Tuesday night,” he said.
A minor was also drifted away by floodwaters but was luckily rescued by residents of the same villages and is currently confined at a hospital for medication, he added.
Based on the latest data, 1,054 families from nine villages of President Roxas town were affected by the floods that include Labu-o, Cabangbangan, Mabuhay, Poblacion, Alegria, Tua-el, Idaoman, Del Carmen and Sagcungan.
In Kabacan town, some 679 families were also evacuated from the villages of Plang, Aringay and Salapungan.
"We conducted swift evacuation to the affected families and were sheltered in their designated evacuation centers while others chose to stay with their relatives,” Villaruz said.
The PDRRMO has so far recorded some 45 damaged houses in the province due to flash floods and landslides.
According to Villaruz, clearing operations are currently conducted in landslide-hit areas in Magpet and Antipas towns that temporarily block access roads.
Relief operations were also conducted by respective municipal social welfare offices and MDRRM units in the affected towns. (PNA)
