Whirlwind hits Zambo coastal barangay, destroys 53 houses

ZAMBOANGA City–Mayor Ma. Isabelle Climaco-Salazar has mobilized the resources of the local government to extend assistance to the families whose houses were destroyed by whirlwind.

At least 53 houses were destroyed by a whirlwind that swept the coastal barangay of Taluksangay, 19 kilometers east of City Hall, shortly after 6 p.m. Wednesday. No one was however reported killed or wounded during the incident.

City Hall Information Officer Belen Sheila Covarrubias on Thursday said Salazar has immediately ordered the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) to provide immediate relief assistance to the affected families.

Covarrubias said the relief assistance include family food packs and hot meals as well as mats. She said the CSWDO is conducting assessment in preparation for the release of cash assistance to the affected families.

The city government provides P5,000 financial assistance to families whose houses were totally destroyed and P3,000 to partially damaged homes. Covarrubias said the financial aid was made to help alleviate the plight of the families affected by calamity, both natural and human-induced.

Taluksangay Barangay Councilor Adnan Abdurahim said Thursday that among the houses that were destroyed included some of the newly-completed houses on stilts awarded to families displaced during the 21-day September 2013 siege.

The others affected were bunkhouses also housing siege displaced families who were resettled in Barangay Taluksangay. A housewife described the whirlwind occurrence “was so sudden” that swept across their community.

“I pulled my children into our house as the whirlwind sweeps across. The next thing I noticed was that the roof of our house was gone,” she said.

The whirlwind was followed by downpour coupled with thunderstorm and lightning. Abdurahim said the whirlwind have even torn apart some of the corrugated galvanized iron roofs of the affected houses in the area. pna