BREAKING: Lapu-Lapu City hit by tornado earlier this evening UPDATE: PAGASA confirms tornado at 52 knots BY: CHANNEL MARIE IMPERIAL POSTED ON MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2013 UPDATE as of 12 a.m., Nov. 5, 2013: PAGASA confirms tornado hit Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue Alex Paden of PAGASA said that they measured the tornado that hit the cities of Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue at 52 knots, reading from their wind vane. Paden added they were not able to detect the tornado because they had turned off their radar due to lightning earlier. According to Ariel Berdon of Lapu-Lapu, he heard from those on Olango island that the tornado started in between the waters of Bohol and Olango then traveled to the mainland at the Mactan Liberty Shrine. However, Paden said that they cannot confirm yet the path of the tornado. The badly injured victims were brought to the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center. CHECK ALSO: Exclusive photos of the tornado aftermath in Lapu-lapu City Tornado-11 Tornado in Lapu-lapu City ******* A tornado wreaked havoc in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu early this evening. Badly hit was sitio Kaisko in barangay Mactan. According to the witnesses living near the shore, they were awakened past 7 p.m. by the strong whirring sound of the wind which destroyed three houses near the Mactan Liberty Shrine. Residents described strong winds, lightning, thunder and vibrations that felt like there was an earthquake. Reported injured were: Mario Dapar Jr., 21 Daisy Pepito, 19 Reynaldo Oliveros, 51 Lea Oliveros, 39 Romeo Orang Jr., 22 Trees along barangays Punta Engano to Buaya crashed to the ground. Electricity is also down in affected areas. In barangay Buaya, a pumpboat was seen capsized while in sitio Mangal of Punta Engano, 57-year-old Amy Daitol said that her house has been pushed by the wind 50 meters away from its original location. Daiton, however, was not injured. Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Paz Radaza said that she will be sending a staff from the engineering department early tomorrow morning to assess the situation and to check if the tornado has caused more damage. Radaza also said that she has received a report that Tinggo was also badly hit. There has been reports that Mandaue City, Cebu was also hit by the tornado. According to the Mandaue PIO, two houses in barangay Looc were damaged and five persons were reported injured. Other areas reported to have been damaged were St. James Amusement Park and Parkmall at the City South Point (reclamation area) and the temporary public market near the city sports complex. Traffic lights near Parkmall and barangay Banilad (near AS Fortuna and P. Remedio) were also damaged. As of this writing, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) has not yet confirmed if it was indeed a tornado. Earlier today, southern parts of Cebu were among those areas placed under storm signal no.1 due to tropical depression Wilma. However, as of the 5 p.m. update of the PAGASA, Wilma has been downgraded to a Low Pressure Area. The 5 p.m. update also reported Wilma at 15 kilometers southwest of Bohol’s capital city, Tagbilaran. Meanwhile, it seems that weather woes will continue to hound Central Visayas as a super typhoon named Haiyan is also expected to enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility either Thursday or Friday. PAGASA, however, is saying that there is still a chance that Haiyan may change its course. But the weather agency is appealing for Cebuanos and Boholanos to keep track of the super typhoon, just in case, especially those in areas ravaged by the October 15 7.2 magnitude earthquak
Posted on: Tue, 05 Nov 2013 04:26:36 +0000