Disaster management officials are considering a possible forced evacuation for residents in Cotabato City affected by flooding in past days.
On Wednesday, Office of the Civil Defense duty officer Josephine Mateo said they are already discussing the matter with the city disaster coordinating council.
"Tinitingnan pa rin ng Regional Disaster Center natin kung kailangan i-advise magkaroon ng forced evacuation sa lugar. Isang linggong nagkaroon ng pag-apaw ng tubig, kami [ay] patuloy [na] nagmo-monitor at nakikipagugnayan sa lugar na apektado (Our regional disaster center is monitoring the situation to see if we need to conduct forced evacuation. Water levels in the area had been rising for a week)," Mateo said in an interview on dzBB radio.
"If there is a need for forced evacuation, the OCD and Regional Disaster Coordinating Council will make the needed advisory to avoid bigger problems," she added.
This developed as state weather forecasters warned of more rains over the area on Wednesday.
Citing reports reaching the OCD, Mateo said 21 out of the 32 villages in the city had already been affected due to flooding.
Mateo also said the floods had already affected at least 30,000 families in the area so far. Floods were waist-deep in some areas, she added.
"Sa ibang lugar walang paglikas na ginawa, ang ibang lugar critical. Patuloy naming mino-monitor ang situation (In some areas, there was no evacuation, but in others, the situation was critical. We are monitoring the situation)," she said.
On the other hand, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said more rains may fall on the Cotabato City area.
"Sa Cotabato may nakatutok na kaulapan [na] parang bukol na nakatutok doon, doon lang nagkaroon ng pag-ulan sa parteng Cotabato ... inaasahan ang pag-ulan sa lugar na yan (There is a cloud formation over Cotabato City that will bring rains. Expect rains over that area)," Pagasa forecaster Elvie Enriquez said in an interview on dzBB.
On Tuesday, dzXL radio reported floods swamped several parts of Sultan Kudarat town in Maguindanao and Cotabato City after heavy rains pelted the areas before dawn Tuesday.
The report said the rains triggered waist-and neck-deep floods, which caused vehicles along the national highway to stall in Cotabato City. — RSJ
