More than 50 houses in Ngadirgo hamlet, Ngadiro subdistrict, Mijen district, Semarang in Central Java, were destroyed by whirlwinds during heavy rains on Saturday. Based on ANTARA's observation on Sunday, the whirlwinds badly affected most houses in the RT01, RT02 and RT03 neighborhoods. No casualties had been reported during the whirl winds. "The whirlwinds started to strike at about 9.30 pm on Saturday," Wariyanti (36), a resident of the RT01, said on Sunday. Early last month, at least 17 houses in Banyupelle village, Palengaan subdistrict, Pamekasan, Madura, East Java, had been seriously damaged by whirlwinds, ANTARA reported. "The strong winds struck at 2.30 pm," Banyupelle village secretary Samsul Arifin told the press here Wednesday night. He said the 17 houses many had practically been razed to the found were located in Panyunguan and Konten villages. The strong winds had also disrupted power supply in Palengaan and Proppo subdistrict. "Our repairmen are still correcting the situation," head of the Pamekasan office of state power company PT PLN Grahito said.
