It also killed at least two people and injured some dozen others in the three provinces, according to preliminary reports of the municipal authorities.
The strong whirlwind on Wednesday morning caused severe damages to 165 houses in the districts of Hong Dan and Phuoc Long in Bac Lieu Province.
Local residents said they saw a “funnel-shaped cloud of inky blackness” passing over the area, causing tremendous devastation to almost everything on its path.
Several local trucks were also struck by tornado, and luckily, the drivers had fled away before that. A few pigs were also thrown away from their home cages.
The remaining of two houses in Bac Lieu Province. Photo: Tuoi Tre
According to Tran Van Danh, Chairman of Hong Dan District, the district has mobilized all the available forces to gather data on the damages, clean the messes and bring money for the local households affected by the tornado.
Nguyen Ngoc Thuy, vice Chairman of Phuoc Long District, said the local government had set up many teams to visit, encourage and direct the forces to help local residents in the cleanup and rebuilding their shelters.
The same situation happened in Soc Trang Province.
Le Van Truong, a local resident in Hamlet 3, Thanh Tri District’s Phu Loc Town, told Tuoi Tre that he was cooking when he heard strange noise of a strong wind coming. He rushed out to his living room only to sea column of smoke moving very fast toward him, accompanied by falling trees and a lot of debris.
He failed in trying to close the door, being unconscious after his house was knocked down by the tornado. When Truong awoke, his house was already in ruins.
Another local resident, the 70-year-old Truong Van Hoang, in Quoi Thanh Commune, My Xuyen District said it was abnormal as the tornado took place when there was no rain.
“I have not seen such a strong tornado in my life. It destroyed all the things only in a blink of an eye,” he added.
According to Pham Thanh Binh, Chairman of Thanh Quoi Commune, the tornado swept through nearly 2 km from the commune of Thanh Tri through the town of Phu Loc and Phu Giao Hamlet. Some 120 houses located along the National Highway 1A were collapsed, leaving all sorts of things on the road.
The same scene is found in Soc Trang Province. Photo: Tuoi Tre
Meanwhile, a quick report of Ben Tre authorities said that rainfall accompanied by strong cyclone passing through the districts of Mo Cay North, Chau Thanh and Ben Tre City had unroofed 196 houses, of which 44 ones were completely destroyed.
The natural disaster injured four people, including a seriously injured person who had been urgently transferred to Nguyen Dinh Chieu Hospital. The tornado also destroyed all the crops on its path.