Strong winds rip off roofs, damage houses in Labuan

LABUAN - Several houses in five villages here were badly damaged after their roofs were blown away due to strong winds this afternoon.

The 3pm incident involved Kampung Layang-Layangan, Kampung Tanjung Aru, Kampung Kilan, Kampung Lubok Temiang and Kampung Sungai Bedaun.

It also caused the ceiling of the multipurpose hall at Sungai Labu Mosque to collapse, but no casualties were reported.

Strong winds and thunderstorms since last night also uprooted dozens of large trees along the main road to several villages, while a number of houses in Kampung Lubok Temiang and Kampung Sungai Labu were damaged by falling trees.

Labuan Fire and Rescue Department director Ismaidi Ismail told Bernama that the department's operation room has been receiving non-stop emergency calls since last night.

"We have dispatched our team to cut and remove trees that hit houses and clear the fallen trees on the main road," he said.

On Friday, the Malaysian Meteorological Department said the low-pressure weather system in the western Philippines is expected to move towards eastern Vietnam from July 9 to 13.

It said the situation has the potential to bring along strong westerly winds and could cause squall line incidents.

This could result in heavy rain with thunderstorms and strong winds in northern Sarawak (Bintulu, Miri and Limbang), western Sabah and Labuan from July 9 to 10 and the northern states of the Peninsula from July 11 to 13. - BERNAMA