Tornado rips through Pampanga capital’s business district

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga, Philippines — A tornado, locally called ipo-ipo, ripped through this Pampanga capital’s central business district on Jose Abad Santos Avenue on Monday afternoon, damaging billboards and blowing off rooftops in a village here.

Vice Governor Dennis Pineda, vice chairman of the Pampanga provincial disaster risk reduction and management council (PDRRMC), said the tornado struck at past 3 p.m. and sent several billboards down.

Pineda said reports he received showed that some electric transformers exploded, causing power outages. These transformers belong to the local power distributor, the San Fernando Electric Light and Power Co. (Sfelapco), according to the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines.

PDRRMC reports said several houses in Barangay (village) Del Carmen lost their roofs as the tornado ripped through the community.

Pineda said the PDRRMC had yet to receive reports of damage and casualties.

The tornado also shook the transmitter of a regional television station CLTV36, causing earthquake-like movements in the CGIC Building where the transmitter has been installed. No one was hurt in the building, the station’s employees said.

Some steel bars outside a nearby car showroom were deformed.

Heavy rains occurred after the tornado, flooding the junction of Jose Abad Santos Avenue and Barangay Dolores.

In August, a tornado struck Barangay San Esteban, a coastal village in Macabebe town, Pampanga. It destroyed 19 houses, the PDRRMC said.

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