GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/13 April) – A strong tornado pummeled two villages in Lake Sebu town in South Cotabato last Tuesday afternoon, killing a 12-year-old girl and injuring two other local residents.
In a belated report, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said Friday the twister ravaged residential and farming communities in Barangays Poblacion and Lamdalag of Lake Sebu at around 2:30 p.
m. Tuesday.
It identified the lone fatality as KC Dawang, who was reportedly inside their house in Sitio Lem-ehek in Poblacion when it was struck by strong winds brought by the tornado.
Two local residents – Imelda Swan of Sitio Lem-ehek, Poblacion and four-year-old Kayla Faith Tampungan of Sitio Tabudtod in Barangay Lamdalag – were injured after they were felled by house and tree debris.
The NDRRMC said 15 families in Sitio Lem-ehek in Poblacion and Sitio Tabudtod in Lamdalag also lost their homes as a result of the incident.
Isidro Janita, South Cotabato Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) chief, said Friday they immediately extended food and relief assistance worth P19,800 to the affected
residents.
He said they have dispatched a team to the area to assess the extent of the calamity and address the other needs of the victims.
Janita said the municipal government of Lake Sebu, through its Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, has also extended emergency assistance worth 5,000 to the victims.
The Barangay Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Councils of Poblacion and Lamdalag initially provided fuel supplies for the chainsaws that were used in the clearing of the felled trees, logs and other debris in the affected communities. (Allen V. Estabillo/MindaNews)