Floods cause major traffic standstill on vital Mindanao highway

About 4,900 families evacuate as heavy rain and floods wreak havoc in Lanao del Sur

CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines – Vehicular traffic came to a standstill along the Narciso Ramos Highway, a vital road network that links Cotabato City to Pagadian City and Marawi City, after it became impassable due to flash floods brought by the easterlies in Mindanao.

The Lanao del Sur Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (PDRRMC) deployed bulldozers, excavators, and dump trucks to clear the vital highway.

Shaminoden Sambitory, head of Lanao del Sur’s PDRRMC, said about 4,900 families from 82 barangays have evacuated to higher grounds so far, while town officials reported that 665 houses were damaged by the flash floods.

One video taken in Balabagan town, Lanao del Sur, and posted on Facebook at 6:10 pm on Friday, July 12, showed a section of the Narciso Ramos Highway flooded. Authorities warned motorists not to proceed.

Other videos were also posted on social media showing flash floods along a section of the Narciso Ramos Highway that links Malabang to Parang towns, turning them into rivers of mud.

Rescuers and soldiers worked overtime to look for five children who were declared missing in Matanog town, Maguindanao del Norte, after heavy rain and rampaging floodwaters turned the Narciso Ramos Highway and nearby mountain gullies into rivers of mud on Tuesday night, July 9.

The bodies of Norhaina Butil, 11, and her three-year-old sister Norhaine were found by rescuers on Friday morning in Barangay Campo Uno in Matanog town, the Office of Civil Defense in the Bangsamoro Region in Muslim Mindanao (OCD-BARMM) said.

Nyll Isaiah Tapia of the OCD-BARMM said at least five people, including Norhaina and Norhaine, were confirmed dead in Matanog town and the nearby municipalities of Balabagan, Malabang, Kapatagan, and Marugong in the adjacent province of Lanao del Sur.

Rescuers are still looking for the three siblings of Norhaina and Norhaine who were swept away by the flash floods that started on Tuesday night.

In nearby Lanao del Sur, the body of an 18-year-old male identified as Baby Nor Raba was found in Barangay Kabaniakawan in Kapatagan town on Friday morning.

Brigadier General Prexy Tanggawohn, BARMM police director, said rescuers were looking for two sisters, identified as Shiela and Ela Abullah, both grade school students, who were swept away by the flash flood that destroyed their house in Barangay Molimok in Balabagan town.

The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said these parts of Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao del Norte would continue to be impacted by heavy rain, triggered by the easterlies, until Saturday, July 13. – Rappler.com