Heavy storm leaves 10 families homeless

A STORM hit Nyamandlovu on Tuesday afternoon leaving about 10 families in Makokomba village homeless.

The storm also destroyed stationery, blew off the roof of a classroom block and a teachers' cottage at a local primary school.

The rains, which were accompanied by strong winds, uprooted several trees in the area and left an eight-year-old-girl with minor injuries.

The storm also hit Cowdray Park on Monday and left six houses damaged.

When Chronicle visited Makokomba village yesterday, some of the affected families were trying to repair the destroyed buildings while some were seated in their damaged houses.

Ms Fadzai Sibanda, who was at Nyamandlovu Business Centre when the incident happened, said her four children had to scurry for cover when they heard a loud sound on the roof of their house.

"I was at Nyamandlovu Centre when the incident occurred at about 3pm. My children were sitting in the house when it started raining. Within a few minutes a heavy storm started," said Ms Sibanda.

"My children heard a loud bang on the roof and they realised that they were in danger. They quickly rushed out of the house and stood at the gate. While they were standing at the gate, they saw the roof of the house falling and some trees fell on the ground. One of my daughters sustained minor injuries when a brick fell on her head."

She said she was shocked when she arrived at home to see rubble on the ground.

"This has never happened in this area before. When I arrived home, I was shocked to see my house and my two huts with no roofs. My children looked confused and they could not explain what happened.

"Now we have nowhere to stay. We slept in the house last night with no roof and I have no idea where we would go if it rains. All our clothes and blankets are wet and I have no money to repair the buildings. I am appealing to well wishers to assist me with money or building material to repair our home," said Ms Sibanda.

Another villager, Mrs Geogina Dlamini, who is the village head, said her son's house and some of the property that was inside the house were destroyed.

"It is fortunate that nobody was injured during this incident. The storm was so powerful that it uprooted several trees in the area. My son's house and the property that was inside were destroyed and all their clothes were soaked in the rain.

"Our councillor, Gertrude Gumbo was here to assess the situation. We are yet to establish the exact number of households that were affected by the storm. We are praying that the same thing does not happen again," said Mrs Dlamini.

One of the teachers at Makokomba Primary School, which had one classroom block and another under construction, said the pupils' textbooks were soaked in the rain.

"This is a big blow to the school because we already had a serious shortage of classrooms. Exercise books and textbooks belonging to Grades Five, Six and Seven were soaked in the rains.

"We are now forced to conduct our lessons outside because the pieces of asbestos that were left are still falling  from the roof," said Ms Virginia Mpofu.

The Umguza District Administrator, Mrs Ernetty Sithole, who received the report yesterday, said a meeting with the Civil Protection Unit (CPU) had been organised to try and assist the affected families.

"I received the report today but efforts are already underway to try and help the affected families. We will have a meeting with the CPU, councillors and the Member of Parliament to see how we can assist the affected people.

"We have also extended our invitation to well wishers from within and outside the district to help us repair the homes. Umguza Rural District Council was already assisting the school by constructing another classroom block, so I am certain that the council will repair the damaged block," said Mrs Sithole.

She said they would also try to get funds from the Community Share Ownership Scheme/Trust.