COTABATO CITY, Aug. 4 (PNA) — The number of flooded towns in Maguindanao due to inter-tropical convergence zone (ITCZ) rose to 12 but disaster officials said no evacuation was reported.
Lawyer Kirby Abdullah, focal person of Humanitarian Emergency Action and Response Team (HEART), the emergency response team of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), said more towns have been submerged due to overnight light to moderate rain in Maguindanao.
It has been raining all day long in the province since Monday, raising the water level of communities around the 220,000 hectares of its marshland.
“Water continue to rise but eventually submerged when rain slowed down,” Abdullah said, explaining why the residents in the affected towns prefer to stay home.
“We are closely monitoring the water level, we are on stand by 24/7,” he added.
The affected towns were Pagalungan, Montawal, Paglat, Sultan sa Barongis, Mamasapano, Shariff Saydona, Datu Piang, Kabuntalan Mother, Northern Kabuntalan, Datu Piang, Datu Salibo and Datu Odin Sinsuat.
Abdullah said the water level in some villages rose to as high as waist deep but receded after three to four hours.
Maguindanao has been the catch basin of river water from South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, North Cotabato and even Davao del Sur.
The flood water would flow through the Rio Grande de Mindanao en route to the Moro Gulf. (PNA)