Tornado ruins 40 houses in South Cotabato

COTABATO CITY, Philippines – A tornado flattened close to 40 houses and left more than a dozen others without roofs in a village in Polomolok town in South Cotabato Friday, officials said yesterday.

Antonio Octavio, chairman of Barangay Cannery, said the twister was first spotted in the pineapple fields of the Dole Philippines before it swept through his village.

Thirty-three families, according to the provincial police, were left homeless by the tornado and are now sheltered in a nearby public school.

The municipal disaster risk reduction and management council estimated the damage to property at P600,000.