KZN freak storms wreak havoc

2008-12-28 22:46

Bongani Hans

Pietermaritzburg - Heavy storms that swept through parts of KwaZulu-Natal over the weekend, claimed the life of a 12-year-old child in northern KZN while scores of people were left homeless after their houses were destroyed.

The boy, Sifiso Khambule, died when his family's house collapsed on top of him while he and an older family member were asleep in Vryheid, northern KZN, on Friday night.

Also in Vryheid, 63 people had to be taken to hospitals after their houses collapsed on top of them while they were asleep. Others were hit by zinc roofing sheets and pieces of bricks as they fled from their homes.

Zululand District Municipality disaster management officer Makhandakhanda Dlamini said two schools in the district lost about 10 classrooms.

"Not only did the school had the roofs blown away, but the walls collapsed. We will be meeting this (Sunday) afternoon to collect the full details of the damages," said Dlamini.

Fire after lightning

In Umlazi, south of Durban, a family escaped unharmed when lightning struck their house, causing a fire that gutted the building on Saturday night.

Head of health and safety in the Durban Metro, Nomvuzo Shabalala, said another house lost its roof while a large number of others were flooded in Umlazi on Saturday. She said a hailstorm also damaged overhead electricity lines in the same township.

"As a result most part of Umlazi is without electricity supply," said Shabalala.

Welfare MEC Dr Meshack Radebe said 30 families lost their homes in the Vulamehlo Municipality, northern KZN, in the weekend's storm.

He said 300 other families in Loskop near Estcourt in KZN midlands also had their homes reduced to rubbles.

"This storm caused damage almost all over the province and people are suffering," said Radebe.

Electricity outages

He said he had to call off his visit to areas affected by the storm when his pilot got a warning that there would be another storm yesterday evening.

As a result of the recent storms and other disasters this year the Welfare Department is going to have an over expenditure of more than R130m by the end of financial year on March 31, he said.

The storm also led to the electricity outages in Pietermaritzburg city centre and surrounding suburbs. The power cut started at 23:00 on Saturday and lasted until Sunday afternoon.

Also in Pietermaritzburg, 49-year-old Eunice Cele had to spend the night in a neighbour's house after her one-room mud house in Mpumuza, Edendale, was damaged by the storm, which started on Saturday evening and went on throughout the night.

"The rain spoiled my bed and clothes after the wall of my house collapsed," said Cele.

John Gutridge from the Msunduzi Municipality's disaster management said Cele was the only victim of Saturday's storm. But there are unconfirmed reports that there were other damages caused in Hilton area on Friday.

'House started to tremble'

She lives alone and she was preparing to go to bed at about 20:00 when her house started to tremble.

"The back wall started to fall apart, which frightened me to escape. Soon the whole (side) wall collapsed and part of the roof was also blown away," said Cele, who is unemployed.

Ward One councillor, Dolo Phillip Zondi, said he was preparing to either house Cele in a tent or a local crèche while still trying to source building materials for her from the Msunduzi Municipality.

Zondi said there are about 10 other families in the area who are still waiting for help to rebuild their houses, which were damaged by an earlier hailstorm at the beginning of the month.

The South African Weather Service (SAWS) estimated that most parts of the province received about 30 millimeters of rain on Friday, while Durban alone received 64 millimeters on Saturday.

The SAWS also warned that there are going to be more storms in the next few days, but not as bad as the previous two days.

The SAWS also said that there is strong wind which blows at about 30 to 60 km/hour in Durban, which is affecting holidaymakers as the ocean is expected to develop rough waves.

- The Witness