Johor Baru: About 2,000 students of SRJK (c) Pei Hwa and SK Sri Perling here were evacuated after the schools were damaged in a furious freak storm.

The storm, which began about 11.15am on Wednesday, has blown off the roofs of the classroom blocks of both schools located side-by-side in Taman Perling.

Witnesses described the storm as strong and scary.

"The visibility was so bad that we could hardly see anything. It was like a white curtain blocking our view.

"Then, we saw pieces of tiles flying off the roofs with many landed and smashed on the cars parked between Block A and B,'' said Yeap Choo Bin, a teacher of Pei Hwa.

Right after the storm stopped, all teachers and students were evacuated to the respective school halls.

Parents and school bus operators were immediately informed to pick up the students.

Classes in the afternoon session were also cancelled.

Evacuations at both schools were carried out in order and no student or teacher was injured in the incident.

Deputy Education Minister Datuk Noh Omar has ordered the schools to cancel all the classes for the week.

"We want to make sure everything is safe to be used,'' said Noh, who headed straight to check on the schools' damaged upon landing at Senai International Airport.

Classes will resume on Monday.