For the third time in 10 days, tornadoes and hail swept through the mountainous district of Ky Son, causing damage to houses, public buildings and crops.
At around 4:00 p.m. on April 23, in Bac Ly commune, Ky Son district, the sunny sky suddenly turned dark, and a few minutes later a tornado and hail struck. Stone particles as big as a finger punctured the roof shingles.
A house in Bac Ly commune had its roof blown off by a tornado. Image: Hung Le
In about 15 minutes, the tornado swept through, causing 25 houses and a school to have their roofs blown off, a number of auxiliary structures collapsed, causing an estimated loss of 150 million VND, said Mr. Cut Van Long, Chairman of Bac Ly commune.
In My Ly commune, tornadoes and hail also appeared, causing many trees to fall, causing local power outages.
Ky Son district authorities are asking commune officials to collect specific damage statistics to come up with support plans.
Trees on the Kindergarten campus in Bac Ly commune fell after the storm. Image: Hung Le
This is the third time Ky Son district has had a tornado and hail in the past 10 days. Previously, on April 13-14, the tornado raged for 15-20 minutes in Bao Thang, Bao Nam, Huoi Tu and Muong Long communes, causing 418 houses to be damaged and roofless; 115 hectares of rice, more than 940 hectares of corn, crops and 880 hectares of forest were damaged.
Hail often appears in the North and Central regions at the time of changing seasons from hot to cold (September-November) and from cold to hot (March-May). Ky Son district’s high mountain terrain and interwoven forests are ideal conditions for convection to develop strongly, forming cumulonimbus clouds and causing hail.
Duc Hung
