Tornado leaves houses destroyed, 3 hurt

RESIDENTS of Sitio Libo in Barangay Mojon, Talisay City salvage what is left of their homes after a tornado struck their community on Tuesday. LITO TECSON/CEBU DAILY NEWS

CEBU CITY—A tornado left a trail of devastation in three coastal villages in Minglanilla town and the adjacent city of Talisay, southern Cebu, on Tuesday.

Six houses were destroyed and two were damaged in Sitio Libo, Barangay (village) Mohon, Talisay City. The tornado also damaged 33 houses, an animal feeds factory and four lampposts in the villages of Tungkil and Calajoan in Minglanilla.

Three persons were also hurt after they were hit by galvanized iron roof sheets that were blown away by winds of at least 200 km per hour that struck past 2 p.m., according to the Office of Civil Defense Office in Central Visayas.

Dennis Atto, regional civil defense operations assistant, said Marichu Pantano, 30; Leticia Labadan, 48; and Rosie Sedentario, 35; all from Barangay Mohon in Talisay were treated for minor injuries at the Talisay District Hospital.

Some parts of Minglanilla, particularly Tungkil, Pagkigne and Lipata villages, were without power until Tuesday night after the tornado hit electrical lines, according to the Visayan Electric Company.

Police Officer 2 Avelino Selloria, Minglanilla police investigator, said the tornado first hit Barangay Calajoan and then moved to the adjacent village of Tungkil, particularly in Villa Feliza Village and Deca Homes Phase 3.

A portion of the roof of the warehouse of Popular Feedmill Corp. facility in Barangay Calajoan was damaged while its metal gate was blown away by the tornado.

The owners of the factory, which is a few meters from the coast, estimated the damage at less than P1 million.

Eleven houses were also damaged in Calajoan, according to the regional civil defense office.

In Barangay Tungkil, the tornado damaged 22 houses in Deca Homes Phase 3 and four lampposts at the subdivision’s basketball court.

Victor Selma, a resident of Calajoan, told radio station dyLA that the tornado came from the sea before it moved toward land, hitting houses in the coastal area of the barangay.

He said people ran for safety when they saw the tornado.

Barangay Captain Manolo Delgado of Tungkil said the gates and roof of houses in Deca Homes Phase 3 were ripped off.

Delgado said the cost of the damage could be a little less than P1 million.

Engineer Oscar Tabada, chief of the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) in the Visayas, said the tornado started as a water spout at sea, but when it hit land area, the phenomenon is called locally “limpos”, or tornado, because it no longer carried water.

The strength of the wind was more than 200 kph, Tabada said. With a report from Carine Asutilla, Inquirer Visayas