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Among those badly affected by the flash floods were sitios Pedtad, Lower and Upper Gaunan in Barangay Gaunan, a Moro-dominated village in M'lang town.
Datu Abdila Pananggulong, former Moro rebel leader in Gaunan, told DXND Radio for Peace that some 100 Moro, Ilonggo and Ilocano families were affected by the floods.
"Most of them evacuated to higher grounds to avoid being hit by the floods," he said.
Abdila said they are still waiting for assistance from the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office.
The affected rice and corn farms destroyed by the floods were ready for harvesting, he said. "It's really a big loss to the farmers here," he added.
This was the second incident where Barangay Gaunan and other villages in Tulunan, North Cotabato were hit by flash floods.
Last Aug. 3, hundreds of hectares of rice and corn fields were also washed away when waters coming from the Malasila River, one of the biggest and longest rivers in North Cotabato, overflowed and inundated mostly low-lying areas in M'lang and Tulunan towns. At least six people from a remote village in Makilala town died when their house was buried in mud, reports from the Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Office (MENRO) in Makilala said.
Floods, according to environment officials, are the most common and widespread of all weather-related natural disasters in the area, particularly the low-lying Tulunan and M'lang municipalities.