10,000 families displaced by floods get food packs

COTABATO CITY, Philippines – Relief workers started distributing on Friday individual food packs to more than 10,000 families displaced by flashfloods that hit parts of Maguindanao’s nearby Sultan Kudarat town Wednesday.

In a statement Friday, the Humanitarian Emergency Assistance and Relief Team (HEART) of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) said the dispersal of the relief supplies was led by ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman and officials of the Sultan Kudarat local government unit.

Flashfloods, spawned by heavy rains early this week, swept through swaths of low-lying areas in 10 barangays in Sultan Kudarat, displacing thousands of villagers.

The affected areas are close to rivers that overflowed, swelled by heavy downpours.

Workers of HEART evacuated to higher grounds hundreds of families from the flooded areas with the help of the police and the Army’s 6th Infantry Division.

The HEART said continuing medical and other relief services will also be extended to the flood victims.