GENERAL SANTOS City– At least 51 houses were damaged and a still undetermined value of crops were devastated after a strong tornado ravaged a farming village in Banga town in South Cotabato on Sunday afternoon. Jun Otik, Banga Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO) head, said Monday the twister pummeled three communities of Barangay Cabudian at around 3:30 p.m. Sunday, destroying houses and uprooting trees in the area.
He said the tornado, which was the first for the area this year, came along with the heavy rains. Citing their initial assessment, Otik said some 36 houses were totally destroyed by the twister while 16 others sustained partial damages. Two classrooms at the Cristiano Ladot Sr. Elementary School also sustained some damages, he said. Otik said they were evaluating the damage wrought on the area’s crops, which included palay, corn, coconut and fruit trees.
“We expect the reported damages to still increase as our assessment is still ongoing,” the official said.Cristiano Ladot Jr., Barangay Cabudian chair, said the MDRRMO and the Provincial DRRM Office has initially provided relief assistance to the affected residents.He said that although the twister destroyed a number houses, there were no reported evacuations as the affected families took shelter with their relatives in the area.
Ladot appealed for assistance from government agencies and other concerned groups due to the significant damages caused by the tornado in his area. He said their top priority as of the moment is the removal of a century-old tree that fell on a river in the area during the incident.The official added the fallen tree could cause the water at the river to impound and eventually trigger some flooding. pna
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