NORTH Cotabato, Philippines (Eagle News) — Close to 1,500 families in two towns of north Cotabato were forced to flee their homes after torrential rains brought by tropical depression “ambo” hit the province on Tuesday dawn (June 28).
The rains caused rivers and other waterways to overflow toward residential and vast agricultural areas in the low-lying villages of Kabacan and Matalam towns.
In Kabacan, hundreds of farmlands planted with palay were inundated in barangays Kuyapon, Malamote, Upper Paatan and Bangilan.
Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (MDRRM) Officer David Saure said about 800 families from the flooded villages were temporarily evacuated to high grounds by local rescue units.
In Matalam, the floods also affected some 600 families in barangays Poblacion, lower Malamote, New Pandan, and Taculen based on the MDRRMC initial report.