The city of Yogyakarta was hit by extreme weather yesterday afternoon, causing property damage and at least one reported injury.
Amid heavy downpour and strong winds, a tornado formed in the city and in nearby Bantul regency which was caught in video footage that went viral online recently.
Puluhan rumah rusak diterjang puting beliung di Kota Yogyakarta dan Bantul. Kejadian angin puting beliung akan meningkat di musim pancaroba seperti saat ini. Cuaca berubah mendadak dari cerah menjadi mendung. Hindari aktivitas di bawah pohon, papan reklame, baliho dll. pic.twitter.com/46KHKGmlVD
— Sutopo Purwo Nugroho (@Sutopo_PN) April 24, 2018
According to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), the tornado first emerged at around 2 pm, uprooting three trees at a community college in the Baciro sub-district of Yogyakarta.
“One person, a lecturer, was injured after a tree branch fell on them. Right now they are in Bethesda Hospital,” said BNPB Spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, as quoted by IDN Times.
The tornado then hit nearby residential areas, causing trees to fall on houses and roofs to be blown off. Dozens of houses in Yogyakarta and Bantul regency were reportedly damaged as a result of the extreme weather.
“Right now the immediate need of locals is tarps because many roofs were damaged. The BPBD (Regional Disaster Mitigation Agency) of Yogyakarta Province, Bantul and Yogyakarta City have built a refuge shelter,” Sutopo said.
There is no tornado warning still in effect for Yogyakarta today. However, the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) did issue a heavy rain/strong winds warning throughout the Greater Jakarta Area, which is expected to occur in the morning and into the afternoon today.
Peringatan dini cuaca wilayah JABODETABEK [25 April 2018] #BMKG https://t.co/CTMm7H7fXE
— BMKG (@infoBMKG) April 25, 2018
