MACABEBE, Pampanga– A powerful freak tornado swept through Sitio Mindanao in Barangay San Esteban here and totally destroyed at least 19 houses at about 6 p.m. last Saturday.
The local police said there were no fatalities, but that some were reported to have suffered minor injuries. The police said the tornado left about 110 folk homeless after powerful swirling winds carried off their roofs and flattened the rest of their homes, mostly made of light materials.
In a report, the police said that the tornado was first noticed as a dark funnel over the Pampanga Bay before it headed to Sitio Mindanao. “The local folk hurriedly left their homes as they felt and literally heard the tornado coming.
Their early evacuation prevented any fatality,” the report said. The tornado lasted less than 30 minutes but was noted to be much more powerful than similar phenomenon that had happened in the area in the past, the report noted.
Debris from the damaged homes were later found in other sitios. Residents of Sitio Mindanao are actually used to tornados, police said, but Friday’s whirlwind was quite powerful. There was no report of estimated damage as of yesterday, but local officials opened the local gymnasium as evacuation area for the affected folk.
Relief goods from the local government were also distributed yesterday.
