WHIRLWIND DAMAGES 45 HOUSES IN CENTRAL JAVA

Kudus, April 24 (ANTARA) - A whirlwind which swept through the Pasuruan Kidul village in Kudus district, Central Java, on Thursday afternoon destroyed at least 45 houses but there were no immediate reports of fatalities.

Pasuruan Kidul village spokesman Yusuf Sunarman said here on Friday that the strong wind, which moved very fast in a spinning pattern from the south to the north, occurred after people saw dark clouds hanging over the horizon.
Yusuf Sunarman said roof tiles were blown up into the sky, and several trees were uprooted as the whirlwind which lasted about ten minutes passed through the village.
"The walls of some houses were cracked but luckily, none of them were flattened to the ground," Sunarman said, adding that material loss sustained by the whirlwind-affected people could reach millions of rupiah.
Thursday's disaster in Kudus came in less than two days after a whirlwind accompanied by hail downpour swept through two villages at Kerinci district in Jambi province on Tuesday.
Kerinci district administration spokesman Amirsyam said in Jambi on Wednesday that it destroyed hundreds of houses and crops on tens of hectares of farm land.
According to Amirsyam, the whirlwind and hail shower hit Sungai Rumpun village in Gunung Tujuh subdistrict, and Sungai Bendung Air village in Kayu Aro subdistrict, Jambi.
"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.