Civilians trapped as heavy rains bring floods in Maguindanao del Norte town

COTABATO CITY, Philippines – The mayor of a municipality in Maguindanao del Norte made a call for help on social media after intense flooding in her town trapped residents inside their homes on Tuesday, July 9.

“To those who have big trucks, please help, we have stranded residents now”,  Matanog Zohria “Jo” Guro wrote on Facebook as her team monitored the situation.

The flooding that began early Tuesday afternoon followed a heavy downpour caused by a low pressure area.

Local police officers reported that some residents were stuck on rooftops and were waiting to be evacuated, but a landslide and fallen electric posts were hampering rescue operations.

Among the severely affected villages were Bayanga Norte, Bayanga Sur, Bugasan Norte, Bugasan Sur, and Sapad.

In the nearby towns of Kapatagan, Balabagan and Malabang in Lanao del Sur, the national highway was also impacted by floods.

Guro also advised motorists planning to pass by her town not to push through, as the situation remained tough.

The Rapid Emergency Action on Disaster Incident of the Bangsamoro region has deployed its rescue units to augment rescue forces. – Rappler.com