Provinces count cost of violent weather

2011-10-03 22:23

Johannesburg - Three provinces were counting the cost on Monday of two tornadoes and a severe storm that claimed four lives, injured dozens of people and left hundreds homeless.

Mopping-up operations were underway in Gauteng, the Free State and KwaZulu-Natal, officials said.

They said at least 222 people were injured - 14 of them because of lightning. Almost 3 000 people were affected as more than 600 houses were either damaged or destroyed.

Duduza on the East Rand was the worst hit when a tornado struck on Sunday, leaving an 8-year-old child dead and over 160 people injured.

Ekurhuleni emergency services and disaster management teams remained on high alert on Monday afternoon.

The storm flattened power lines and uprooted trees in Masechaba extension on Sunday.

"A total of 166 people were treated and taken to nearby hospitals such as Pholosong in Tsakane and Far East Rand Hospital in Springs," Ekurhuleni spokesperson Justice Mohale said in a statement.

Disaster area

According to an updated report on Monday afternoon 2 790 people were affected by the storm. About 558 houses were either seriously damaged or destroyed.

"The municipality, working together with relief organisations, has provided affected people with blankets and food and is assisting them with temporary structures," Mohale said.

Families would stay at the Duduza multi-purpose centre overnight, where the municipality could not erect temporary shelters. The municipality asked for donations of blankets, bedding, clothing, slippers, toiletries, non-perishable food and stationery.

Gauteng farmers had donated fresh vegetables, eggs and mealie meal to Duduza residents on Monday, Agri SA spokesperson Thea Liebenberg said in a statement.

Ekurhuleni mayor Mondli Gungubele announced Duduza would be declared a disaster area.

"Nature has disrupted the lives of our people. We are in the process of profiling each household, and organising a team to co-ordinate the relief efforts."

Gungubele said the extent of the damage still had to be assessed.

In the Free State a 8-year-old boy, Jama Mokhekhe, was killed in the early hours of Monday when a wall collapsed on him during a storm.

Police spokesperson Captain Phumelelo Dlamini said the storm hit around 02:00 and destroyed the boy's family home. Other members of the family were seriously injured.

Another 42 people in and around Ficksburg were injured, and 122 RDP houses and shacks destroyed.

The injured were taken to hospitals in Bethlehem and Bloemfontein. The municipality was meeting different government departments on Monday to establish a plan of action, Setsoto municipal spokesperson Thabo Mokoena said.

"Engineers have to assess the situation. Based on that we can decide what to do," Mokoena said about the affected Ficksburg area.

Municipal buildings, churches and tents were made available for the homeless, and non-government bodies and provincial departments were providing food.

"Everything is going very well," Mokoena said.

Safety

In KwaZulu-Natal, two men were killed by lightning in Makekeni village near Estcourt, the department of co-operative governance said on Monday.

Reginald Nene, 30, and his friend Simpiwe Mazibuko, 26, attended a traditional ceremony in a crowded house when lightning struck at 15:00 on Sunday, department spokesperson Vernon Mchunu said.

Fourteen others who attended the ceremony were injured, eight critically, and taken to a hospital in Estcourt. The funeral costs would be shared between the department of co-operative governance and the Uthukela district municipality.

MEC Nomusa Dube visited the area on Monday morning to assess the damage and hand 50 lightning conductors to residents.

"We are deploying disaster experts to visit local municipalities across the province. They will be supplying lightning conductors to rural areas in particular, as these areas are prone to lightning strikes."

The department would educate people on safety during floods and thunderstorms, Mchunu said.

Not common

Despite the havoc caused since Sunday, tornadoes in spring and summer were not uncommon, SA Weather Service forecaster Puseletso Mofokeng said.

"It happens from time to time. Over the past three years it has happened on a yearly basis."

He said some of these tornadoes set down in unpopulated areas.

"It's only when they reach cities that we notice them."

Mofokeng said tornadoes were more common in the central Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State than in other provinces.

He said small low pressure systems known as mesocyclones caused severe storms, which could result in tornadoes.

Mofokeng said the system which caused the severe weather over the weekend would shift to Limpopo, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal on Monday. However Gauteng could still expect rain.

- SAPA