By ALI G. MACABALANG
COTABATO CITY — A tornado ripped through five barangays in Marawi City Monday, destroying several homes and some government structures including the city government’s building and a provincial hospital.
In its initial report, the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office said the tornado directly hit the barangay Barrio Fort, Bangon, Green, Saber and Sagonsongan.
The report said seven classrooms were totally damaged while 42 houses sustained partial damage. An auditorium and a waiting shed were also hit, it added.
Portions of the Amai Pakpak Medical Center and the city hall’s administrative building were also partially damaged.
Photos and videos shared online showed building roofs being blown off by strong winds, debris flying through the air and landing on vehicles.
Zia Alonto-Adiong and Pundoma Sani, both Maranao members of the Bangasamoro interim parliament, also shared photos and videos of the tornado on Facebook, alongside Jehanne Mutin of the regional women’s commission.
Despite the damages to buildings and vehicles, there were no reports of injuries.
Monday’s tornado, which was the city’s first after a fiercer one in 1960s, has aggravated the woes of residents still reeling from the ills of the infamous May 23, 2017 siege by terror-bound militants and the ensuing five-month battle in the country’s lone Islamic City.
It shattered most of temporary shelters for over a thousand families displaced by the bloody siege in Barangay Sagonsongan.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Administration (PAGASA) defined tornado as a violently rotating column of air that reaches from the base of a cloud to the ground in funnel shape.
In online posts, Commissioner Mutin and Islamic clerics invoked the need for solemn prayers among city residents, saying the tornado could be implying a warning for reflection in their daily routines vis-à-vis religious mandates.
Bangsamoro region spokesman and Minister of Local Government Naguib Sinarimbo said Regional Chief Minister Ahod “Hadji Murad” Ebrahim has ordered the dispatch of a team to assess Marawi City’s post-tornado situation and provide relief goods to affected residents.
The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) covers Lanao del Sur (including Marawi City), Basilan (including Lamitan City), Maguindanao, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, the city of Cotabato and 63 barangays in North Cotabato.
Providing relief services and goods for tornado-affected families will be an “added mission” for the Rapid Emergency Action on Disaster Incidence (READI) of the BARMM, which has been assisting victims of earthquakes in Kidapawan City, North Cotabato and flooding in some Maguindanao towns.
