WHIRLWIND WREAKS HAVOC IN KERINCI DISTRICT

Jambi, April 22 (ANTARA) - A whirlwind accompanied by a hail downpour swept through two villages at Kerinci district in Jambi on Tuesday damaging hundreds of houses and crops on tens of hectares of farm land.

Contacted by phone from here on Wednesday, Kerinci district administration spokesman Amirsyam said the whirlwind and hail shower hit Sungai Rumpun village in Gunung Tujuh subdistrict, and Sungai Bendung Air village in Kayu Aro subdistrict.
"There was no fatality in the disaster but it damaged at least 370 houses in the two villages," Amirsyam said.
He said that in the village of Sungai Rumput, the disaster had damaged 345 houses , 136 of them seriously while in the village of Sungai Bendung Air only 25 houses were affected
Besides 25 houses in Sungai Bendung Air village, the whirlwind and hail shower also ravaged potato plants on 25 hectares of land in the same village.
Amirsyam said local administration officials had sent a team to the location to collect data on the material losses.
Meanwhile, Kerinci district head Murasman had also visited the disaster-hit area to obtain first-hand information about the material losses sustained by the local people.