Whirlwind hits Batam, many homeless

BATAM, Riau: A whirlwind hit Kampung Dapur neighborhood, Sei Beduk district, Batam, on Friday afternoon, damaging dozens of houses and leaving 50 families homeless.

Oslen Simanjuntak, head of the neighborhood, said that the whirlwind suddenly blew into the neighborhood after local residents had performed the weekly Friday prayer at a nearby mosque.

It then hit dozens of houses in the area.

No fatalities were reported in the incident, but it left some 50 families homeless.

The residents who lost their houses took refuge at places of worship after the incident. -- JP