Whirlwind Wreacks Havoc in Denpasar

Denpasar, Bali (Antara) - "A whirlwind occurred in Dukuh Tangkas village, Pemogan sub-district of Denpasar City, following heavy rains," stated Head of Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Division of Denpasar Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) Made Prapta on Wednesday. The whirlwind hit areas in Denpasar, Bali province, at 2 p.m. local time, damaging several houses. Made announced that the mitigation team is inspecting damaged houses in a number of areas such as Pemogan, Sesetan, and Pulau Moyo Street. The whirlwind damaged several rooftops and also shattered window panes in high-rise buildings. The BPBD is in the process of examining the victims and evaluating the cumulative loss caused by the disaster. "So far, we have information about several houses being damaged. We estimate the total loss will escalate to millions of rupiah," Made stated. Chief of the Information and Data Division in Geophysics, Climate, and Meteorology (BMKG) of Denpasar Nyoman Gede Wirajaya added that the agency has informed the concerned institutions and agencies of the potential for disaster. The BMKG reported that the weather phenomena that struck Denpasar had generated wind speeds of 30 kilometers per hour. "In our analysis, we found that the whirlwind speed reached 30 kilometers per hour," Nyoman added. (*) *