MANILA, Philippines ? A total of 12 shanties were destroyed when they were hit by a twister on the University of the Philippines campus in Diliman, Quezon City, Thursday morning.

The twister, which wreaked havoc in the area for around three to five minutes, also tore off the branches of several trees and felled an electric post along C. P. Garcia Avenue, blocking the road to all traffic.

As of Thursday afternoon, the post had yet to be removed from the avenue, resulting in heavy traffic in the area.

Fortunately, no injuries were reported as a result of the incident, Superintendent Oscar Palisoc, Anonas police station commander, said in a phone interview.

?It happened during the heavy rains in the morning and another house near the corner of Magiting and Maginhawa Streets was slightly damaged when its roof flew off,? he added.

The road was also littered with several pieces of wood, galvanized iron sheets and tree branches.

Residents said they felt the twister at around 10 a.m. during a heavy downpour.

Robelyn Felipe, one of the residents in the area, said she had just come from distributing relief goods to residents of Pook Palaris who were affected by a fire the day before when she saw the twister.

?I was walking home on C.P. Garcia when I noticed that in the middle of the strong rains, there was a black tunnel-like object hovering in the air. When it hit the ground, it tore off the roof of some houses and several tree branches,? she said.

As she watched, the twister hit an electric post. Felipe said she heard a loud crack before the post fell to the ground.