Tornado destroys 90 houses in South Cotabato

SOUTH COTABATO, Philippines – Some 90 houses were flattened Thursday night by a tornado that swept through swaths of agricultural lands in South Cotabato province, officials said.

Catholic station dxOM in Koronadal City, the provincial capital, quoted local officials in a report Saturday as saying that villages in Banga and Santo Niño towns were struck by a tornado, which flattened houses and makeshift shelters for farm animals.

Sources from the office of South Cotabato Gov. Daisy Avance-Fuentes said 28 houses in Koronadal City were also blown away by the tornado.

Reports obtained from the local government units of the affected South Cotabato towns indicated that more than 80 houses were damaged by the twister.