Winds destroy houses in two Central Mindanao towns

COTABATO CITY — Around 40 houses were destroyed by strong winds that pummeled lowlands in the adjoining towns of Montawal, Maguindanao del Sur and Kabacan, Cotabato amid heavy rains on Thursday afternoon.

Personnel of the Kabacan Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office were immediately deployed in areas affected and relocate villagers to evacuation sites, local officials told reporters on Friday.

The local government unit of Montawal, personnel of the Montawal Municipal Police Station and the Army’s 90th Infantry Battalion under the 602nd Infantry Brigade are attending to the needs of the Moro villagers made homeless by the calamity.

There was heavy downpour at the border of Maguindanao del Sur and Cotabato and in many other areas in Central Mindanao, including Cotabato City, before strong winds flattened many houses, mostly made of semi-permanent materials.

Several electric posts also got toppled when large branches of trees broken by strong winds hit the power lines dangling in between.

The heavy rains also swelled small rivers, causing the sudden inundation of some low-lying areas in the first district of Cotabato province.