Tornado destroys houses, crops in 2 Nueva Ecija villages

Brigida Bartolome of Barangay Caaninaplahan in Talavera town, Nueva Ecija province shows the damage to her house caused by a tornado. | PHOTO: Armand Galang

TALAVERA, Nueva Ecija –– A tornado destroyed at least 18 houses, an undetermined volume of crops and several electricity posts in the villages of Mabuhay and Caaninaplahan, in this town, shortly before 5 p.m. Wednesday, May 25.

Brigida Bartolome, 56, said they rushed inside their house when they felt the strong wind as dark clouds loomed over these areas.

“Pero ang bilis talo pa ang bagyo. Saglit na saglit lang ay tinangay nang buo ang bubong namin (But it was so fast, worse than a typhoon. In a very short while, our roof was blown away),” Bartolome told the Inquirer, adding that it was the first time a tornado hit their place.

Outgoing Mayor Nerivi Santos-Martinez said the tornado affected 18 families and caused a power outage.

She, with Mayor-elect and Association of Barangay Councils President Nerito Santos, Jr., and municipal councilors, extended food and cash assistance to the affected families.

“Inabutan po namin ang mga nabanggit na barangays na walang kuryente, maraming nakabuwal na poste ng kuryente at mga puno (We found these villages without electricity, with many toppled posts and trees),” Martinez said in her social media post.

The power utility firm was working to restore the electricity.

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