Over 47,000 displaced due to flash floods in S. Philippines

More than 47,000 people in low-lying towns in southern Maguindanao province of the Philippines have been displaced due to flash floods, local media reported Tuesday.

A total of 47,552 individuals or 9,388 families have been affected by the "on-and-off"floods that hit at least 10 villages of Sultan Kudarat and Sultan Mastura, both in Northern Maguindanao, Inquirer quoted the disaster coordinating council in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) as saying.

Secretary Pombaen Karon Kader of the Department of Social Welfare and Development in the ARMM said,"there's evacuation when water rises and the affected families will go back home when water is gone."

A resident of Barangay Bulalo, Sultan Kudarat, said, "many residents are now living on the second floor of their houses with all their valuables while their vehicles and "easy to move" properties stay at the roadside.

"As for those who only have one-story houses, they have nowhere to go when water rises,"he said.

He blamed the government for its failure to address the problem, saying"the solution is easy, redirect Simuay river so the water will go direct to the sea and not toward residential areas."

"We have been in this situation every rainy season during the past three years," he said.

Source: Xinhua