Flashfloods submerge villages

NORTH COTABATO, Philippines — Flashfloods spawned by heavy downpours that lasted six hours swept through dozens of villages in towns near the Liguasan Delta in this province on Tuesday.

Ten barangays in Midsayap, located in the first district of North Cotabato as well as several barangays in Pikit, Aleosan and Pigcawayan were submerged.

The affected villages are located along riverbanks and swamps that connect to Central Mindanao’s Liguasan Delta.

The delta serves as a catch basin for more than a dozen rivers running down the jungles of the adjoining provinces of Bukidnon, Maguindanao, North Cotabato, South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat.

Local officials said heavily silted waterways overflowed as the rains poured, inundating villages and commercial districts.