Flood victims in Sultan Kudarat fear returning to seaside homes

COTABATO CITY, Philippines - More than 800 families from flood-stricken seaside communities in Palimbang, Sultan Kudarat are reluctant to return home due to inclement weather, apprehensive of a repeat of the flashfloods that sent them fleeing to higher grounds.

The local government of Palimbang has been providing the evacuees, now in relief sites and houses of relatives, with food rations since they left their villages Tuesday dawn.

Some of the flood victims are housed in the Palimbang public gymnasium, according to the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (MDRRMC).

The displaced villagers were forced to evacuate when rampaging floodwaters, spawned by torrential rains, hit their villages in the town proper of Palimbang and nearby coastal barangays.

The MDRRMC said the floodwaters swept away more than a dozen houses made only of bamboos and nipa palms.  

The evacuees are hesitant to return home due to recurring downpours which they fear can again cause massive flooding.