Tornadoes Damage Dozens Of Houses In Belitung

One of the houses in Belitung was damaged by a tornado, Wednesday (17/5/2023). ANTARA/Apriliansyah

The Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) of Belitung Regency, Bangka Belitung Islands, noted that 16 houses in Air Raya Village and Air Ketekok Village were damaged by the tornado.

"The number of houses damaged by the tornadoes was recorded as many as 16 houses spread across two villages, most of which were damaged by mild and moderate categories," said the Head of the Belitung BPBD Daily Executive, Agus Supriadi, as reported by ANTARA, Wednesday, May 17.

The hurricane natural disaster occurred on Wednesday (17/5) at 14.00 WIB.

According to him, the Belitung BPBD Rapid Response Team (TRC) is currently collecting data on the houses of residents affected by the tornado.

"We are still conducting sweeps and data collection on the houses of residents affected and damaged," he said.

Agus said that the affected areas due to the tornado were Air Raya Village and Air Ketekok Village.

"While the area most affected by the tornado was Air Raya Village, one of which was on Jalan Serma Abdulah," he said.

In addition to collecting data, the Belitung BPBD TRC also helped residents repair the roofs of houses damaged by the incident.

"At one point or at a resident's house, we left three officers to help evacuate and repair damaged houses," he said.

Although it did not result in any casualties, the incident was detrimental to material estimated at tens of millions of rupiah.

"I remind residents who are in disaster-prone areas to remain vigilant because natural disasters can occur at any time without prior knowledge," he said.