He said the storm, which struck at about 6pm, damaged 219 houses in Taman Desa Seri Chepor, Kampung Tawas, Taman Tasek Damai and Kampung Seri Klebang Tambahan Jaya .

“The state government will provide an initial ‘wang ehsan’ of RM300 to each household today and will appoint a contractor to repair their houses.

“The remaining RM1,000, which is from the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma), will be disbursed to them soon,” he told reporters when visiting the victims today.

Hundreds of homes were damaged during a tornado-like freak storm in several villages at about 6pm yesterday, leaving most of the Chinese residents in Kampung Tawas, who will be celebrating Chinese New Year tomorrow, in despair.

Meanwhile, state infrastructure, energy, water and public transport committee chairman Mohd Zolkafly Harun said Tenaga Nasional Berhad had cut off the electricity supply for public safety and to avoid any untoward incidents.

“Supply will be restored in the affected housing areas and villages after the repair work is completed,” he added.