Storms leaves trail of destruction

Scores of villagers from Vhembe and other parts of Limpopo were left homeless and stranded after a heavy storm left a trail of destruction last weekend.

By Monday, in Vhembe alone, about 320 households were confirmed as having been affected. At the time of our going to press, disaster teams from Vhembe and Thulamela and a team from the Red Cross were still busy assessing the situation and the possibility was high that the number of those affected could rise.

In Vhembe, the villages of Botsoleni, Maphophe and Makahlule were the hardest hit. Churches, schools and houses had their roofs blown away during the storms. One of the affected family is the Sithole family of Maphophe in Malamulele. Mr Meshack Sithole, who is still nursing injuries in hospital after being hit by corrugated iron, said life would never be the same for him.

“I saved for years to build my dream house, but I saw my dream crumbling down in the wink of an eye," said Sithole. He is a married father of three children and said they were outside the house when the storm and heavy wind started. They went into the house, thinking that it would subside, but it became worse and the wind "started to pull the roofing out".

He said they took the children to a neigbour for safety and he and his wife returned to the house. “While inside the house, we could sense danger and we decided to go outside, but I was struck by corrugated iron,” said Sithole.

Another family that was hard hit is the Chauke family of Botsoleni. Ms Nomia Chauke (43) was killed after being struck by lightning and her children are now facing an uncertain future. She was struck by lightning while coming from fetching firewood. In another lightning tragedy the same day, the 24-year-old Constance Novela of Mphambo also died after being struck by lightning, while sitting with her husband and her one-year-old baby.

The head of the disaster committee in the Thulamela Municipality, Mr Elias Chavalala, who accompanied the acting executive mayor, Cllr Lucas  Manyuwa, on a tour to the affected area, said several people were injured, seven churches were damaged while 307 houses were damaged during the storm.

Manyuha said they would approach the province and request that the area be declared a disaster area. He said they had already handed over tents and food parcels to the affected and would continue to  assist the affected families.