Tornado topples trees, shatters glass in Bacolod; floods hit Capiz

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines—A tornado swept through parts of this city, destroying trees and two sidewalk eateries, and causing a three-hour blackout at around 12:20 Thursday afternoon.  No one was reported hurt, killed or missing, so far.

The tornado, which also ripped off the roof of a warehouse and knocked down fences, was first spotted near the San Antonio IT Park in Barangay Mandalagan.

The tornado also broke the glass windows of the Bacolod Filipino Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry Building before it hit the eateries along Ipil St., said Joemarie Vargas, head of the Bacolod City Risk Reduction Management Council.

Argie Artus, 40, who was at one of the eateries said they heard breaking glass and saw swirling dark funnel approaching and ran for safety in front of the Banco de Oro branch across the street.

The tornado with leaves swirling around it slammed into two carinderias, toppling them along with trees and a cement wall in its path, Artus said.

Businessman Crispin Chua said the tornado also hit his family’s warehouse at corner Sarabia Avenue and Camagong Street blowing off its roof and toppling part of its fence.

Vargas said the tornado toppled trees along La Salle Avenue and other parts of its path, which city personnel were clearing Thursday afternoon.

According to Vargas, tornadoes occur when cold air on top begins to sink, sending the rising warm wind spinning upward. The warm winds rotate faster and faster in a high column.

Meanwhile, about 100 families in a Capiz town were evacuated as flooding occurred in 13 towns in Capiz and two cities in Negros Occidental due to days of continued rains, a report of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) in Western Visayas, said.

There were no reported casualties or missing, according to the OCD report as of 11 a.m. Thursday.

At least 120 villages with 1,422 families or 7,292 persons were affected by the flooding.

Capiz was the worst hit with 116 barangays affected.

Around 100 families in Pontevedra town, some 15 km from Roxas City, has been evacuated as the water level rose waist high, said Esperedion Pelaez, Capiz Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) action officer.

Flooding also occurred in some villages of Mambusao (26), Sigma (16), Panitan (15), Panay (10), Dumarao (10), Pilar (8), Dao (7), Maayon (7), Cuartero (6), Sapian (3), Dumalag (2) and President Roxas (1).

In Mambusao, the flooding affected the rice fields while some of the barangay roads were not passable to light vehicles. The national roads, however, remained passable to all kind of vehicles.

In Sigma town, 1,322 families or 6,610 persons were affected by the flooding in 16 of its barangays but the roads in the area were still passable.

Flooding also occurred in two barangay (villages) each in Cadiz and Sagay cities in Negros Occidental.

Pelaez said the water level in some areas were slowly rising while in other areas the water level has subsided.

He advised the residents in low-lying areas and along the mountain slopes to be alert for possible occurrence of flash floods.

Capiz Gov. Victor Tanco has instructed the PDRRMC, together with the Capiz Emergency Response Team (CERT) and the 601st Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army, to conduct ocular inspection in the affected areas.

The flooding has resulted from the continuous rains brought about by the tail-end of cold front that started on March 27.