Hailstorm leaves trail of destruction

A HAILSTORM which claimed the lives of three children from Bulilima District has caused widespread damage estimated at tens of thousands of dollars.

A picture of utter despair is unfolding in the aftermath of the heavy storm which swept through the district on Monday.

Hundreds of families lost their food reserves, clothing and livestock while scores of huts and other buildings were destroyed.

Reporters visited some of the affected villages yesterday and shell shocked villagers said the storm was the worst in living memory.

In Dombodema and Dombolefu Wards in Bulilima, dozens of homes are roofless and numerous trees were uprooted by strong winds that accompanied the massive storm.

One of the affected villagers, Agnes Sibanda, 64, of Village 29 area in Dombolefu Ward, lost two of her bedroom huts during the storm.

Sibanda said she watched in despair with her 80-year-old husband, Thomas Nkomo, as the two huts which contained all their valuables were reduced to ashes after they were struck by lightning.

"When I checked outside I saw that a bedroom hut which my grandchildren used to sleep in was on fire. I didn't even see when the other hut caught fire but a few seconds later both bedroom huts were on fire. The sky was covered with dark clouds and the thunder and lightning persisted," she said.

Sibanda said she and her husband tried to retrieve some of their belongings from their bedroom hut but there was not much they could do as their homestead was already engulfed by fierce flames.

She said at the time it was drizzling and the fire reduced everything to ashes.

Sibanda, who stays with five grandchildren, aged between three and eight years old, said the family lost uniforms, clothes, valuables and food in the inferno.

"As I speak the only clothes that we've are the ones we were wearing when the lightning struck. Our food supplies were stored in my bedroom hut and everything was lost. We're now relying on food handouts from neighbours," she said.

Sibanda said it only rained heavily at night but the damage had already been done.

Sinotheni Sibanda, 43, of Village 24 whose six-year-old daughter died in the hailstorm, told of the anguish of searching throughout the night for her child, Ludolwedzimu Moyo, a Grade Zero pupil at Sevaka Primary.

"When the rains stopped around 4PM, I decided to go out and search for my daughter as she had not arrived. I searched around the community and I could not find her.

"We also saw five of her classmates but one of them had already died while four others were shaken and sitting in the bushes.

"I moved around homesteads of friends and relatives in search of my little girl until it was dark and we resorted to using cellphones for lighting but I couldn't find her. We later retired home and we just sat in the kitchen hut as it had become too dark to see anything," she said.

The devastated mother said at the first sign of light on Tuesday morning, they set out to look out for her daughter and she was alerted by villagers who had found her dead in the bushes.

"The four children who survived the storm sustained swollen body parts because of the hailstones. When we found them they were holding onto a large tree, looking terrified and freezing.

"They said that my daughter and her friend who died complained of being hurt by the hailstones and fled from the tree where they were hiding," said the woman as she burst into tears.

She said they buried her daughter yesterday morning while he neighbour's child was going to be buried today.

A village head in the area, Basil Sibanda, said they were still compiling statistics on the number of homesteads that had been damaged by the storm but only a few houses had been spared by the hailstorm.

He said the rains lasted for 30 minutes but the hailstones were falling rapidly and accumulating fast. The village head said chickens, goats, donkeys and cows had perished in the massive storm.

Beatrice Tshuma, 54, of Tjompani area in Dombodema Ward, said she lost 65 chickens during the hailstorm.

She said she also lost four of her cattle leaving her with a herd of six. Tshuma said she also lost four goats.

The village head of the area, Smart Tshuma, said villagers were coming his homestead to submit details on what they had lost during the hailstorm.

He said 10 head of cattle belonging to a community member had been swept away by a dam which collapsed.

Bulilima Civil Protection Committee Chairperson, Ethel Moyo, said transport challenges were hampering efforts to visit the affected areas.

She said the CPU had not ascertained the number of homesteads that had been affected.

Eight schools from the district were reportedly damaged during the hailstorm.

Some of the most affected areas in the district include Tokwana, Ntoli, Gampu and Mzwanyana.