Twister ruins 9 houses

BACOLOD CITY – A twister struck a small village in E.B. Magalona, Negros Occidental last Tuesday afternoon, destroying nine houses and damaging five others, authorities said.

No one was hurt when the twister, locally referred to as buhawi, swept an area planted mostly with sugarcane in Hacienda Leoncia in Barangay Consing, 23.9 kilometers north of this city.

Municipal police chief Santiago Rapiz said the twister, which lasted for 15 minutes, also toppled an electric post and caused a three-hour power outage.

Mayor Alfonso Gamboa sent construction materials and relief assistance to the 14 affected families. – Antonieta Lopez