BESUT:Over 80 houses in the Kuala Besut State Assembly constituency here were damaged due to a storm and heavy rain yesterday evening.

Kuala Besut State Assembly constituency co-ordinating officer Asbi Salleh said the roofs of houses and trading premises in six villages were blown away by the storm at the onset of Magrib (evening prayer).

‘’Some houses were also damaged by falling trees. The most badly affected villages are Kampung Lay Out Tok Saboh, Kampung Tok Saboh and Kampung Alor Peroi,” he said when visiting storm victims in Kampung Lay Out Tok Saboh today.

Asbi said the state government would also provide its assistance to repair the roofs of the affected houses.

Meanwhile, a victim, Muhammad Hanif Danial Mohd Rozfaiza, 18, said the house belonging to his family was among the earliest to be stripped of its roof by the storm.

‘’My mother (Fadilah Mohd Zain, 43), three siblings and I were at home when it rained heavily followed by a tornado which struck our house.

‘’Suddenly there was a deafening sound coming from the roof of the house. I looked up and saw that the roof was no more. I recited the ‘azan’ (call to prayer) loudly before we ran out of the house to save ourselves,’’ he said.

-- BERNAMA