4th tornado strikes Bulacan in 24 days

SAN MIGUEL, Bulacan – A tornado – the fourth to hit the province in 24 days – tore roofs and walls of at least 30 houses in three barangays here yesterday morning, authorities said. No one was reported hurt.

Rodolfo Santos, head of the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Office, told The STAR that the tornado swirled across the villages of Cambio, Penambaran and Buga at around 6:30 a.m.

The first two tornadoes hit the towns of Bustos and Baliuag last July 30, felling a number of trees and leaving at least 58 houses damaged.

The third one hit the barangays of Capihan and Pinac-Pinacan in San Rafael town on Aug. 7, even lifting a certain Ildefonso Consumo above the ground and dumping him in a ricefield some eight meters away from his house.

Jun Dalida, a tornado expert of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, said in a phone interview that tornadoes in the Philippines are weaker than those in the United States.

He said a tornado is caused by high temperature and relative humidity in the atmosphere.

“Tornadoes are usually seen when there are cumulonimbus or dark clouds with severe thunderstorms,” he said, adding that tornadoes are formed over land and “water spouts” when over water.

According to Dalida, regular or baby tornadoes pack winds of 400 kilometers per hour, enough to destroy houses made of light materials.

Dalida attributed the seeming surge of tornadoes in Bulacan to the country’s tropical setting.

In the last 10 years, Dalida said they have recorded a total of 172 tornadoes across the country, adding that most of them were recorded in the months of July (31), August (21) and September (27).     – With Ric Sapnu