Water spout damages 20 houses; families evacuated

DUMAGUETE CITY ,Philippines — A water spout, locally known as buhawi, hit Barangay Mag-abo in Amlan town of Negros Oriental at around 6 p.m. Thursday, bringing strong winds that caused damages to twenty houses, according to yesterday's update from the municipal government.

There were no reports of injury or casualty but 12 affected families were immediately evacuated to the municipal gym of Amlan. Some of them however have returned to their places in the barangay, as of yesterday morning.

A report from the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council-7 (RDRRMC-7) yesterday afternoon stated that witnesses said the water spout formed off the waters between Cebu and Negros Oriental, facing Amlan. A few minutes after, it hit Brgy. Mag-abo.

The local police then secured the area hit by the water spout, according to Allen Froilan Cabaron, provincial civil defense coordinator of Negros Oriental in the information furnished to The FREEMAN by the RDRRMC-7 yesterday.

The faxed report stated that the Municipal Social Welfare Office has distributed relief goods to the evacuees, and the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council of Amlan gave out construction supplies to the victims whose houses were damaged by the spout.

A water spout is a twisting of air formed mostly in a body of water caused by the rising of hot air mixed with cold air. It has the same characteristics of a tornado or twister, but formed inland, and has a speed of between 80 kilometers per hour and 150 kph. —John DX Lapid with report from RDRRMC-7