By Elmon Tshikhudo and Andries van Zyl
A freak storm that ripped through a small part of the Vhembe region on Monday afternoon caused damage estimated at hundreds of millions of rands. It not only destroyed orchards on dozens of farms, but also uprooted trees and blew off the roofs of several houses.
The dark clouds started gathering on the horizon late on Monday afternoon, but in most parts of the region it produced nothing more than a few drops of rain and a few gusts of wind.
This was not the case, however, in places such as Maungani village just west of Thohoyandou. The storm also wreaked havoc in the Levubu area, especially on farms next to the Piesanghoek road.
When the paper visited households at Maungani village on Tuesday, the damage was still clearly visible, with mangled sheets of corrugated iron, once the roof of a building, lying in the open veld.
An initial assessment indicates that roughly 20 households were struck by the fierce storm. The storm lasted for less than two hours, but the affected parties will need many years to recover.
One of the unlucky families to suffer is the Mulaudzi family, whose four-room house had its roof destroyed during the heavy storm. Family member Ms Merriam Mulaudzi said she had just finished cooking on an outside fire when the storm had struck. "I was alone at home, with my husband having gone to the graveyard to clean the graves. Around 16:00, a strong wind blew and was soon followed by heavy rains. I became very confused when the roof lifted, and I could see the rainy skies. A few moments later, the roof was swept away. I ran to the passage for safety," she said.
Mulaudzi described how everything in the house was very quickly soaked in water as the rain poured down. "The damage is excessive, and bear in mind this is the house we inherited from my mother-in-law. I am doing odd jobs at Univen and there is no way we can afford to replace the roof," she said.
Another resident who lost a lifetime's worth of savings and possessions is Ms Livhuwani Makhwara. Her eight-room house that took her six years to build was destroyed by the intense wind and storm. "I laboured for years to have this house completed, but it was destroyed in a matter of minutes. I am no longer working, and I won't be able to replace it. Any Good Samaritan out there, please help," she pleaded.
The local traditional leader, Vhamusanda Vho-Dinani Masiagwala, called on the community to rally around those affected. "We are still reeling in shock. We have never experienced a situation where more than 20 houses and trees were damaged in a single storm. We will sit down as a royal council and the community and see what we can do to help the affected families. We are calling upon the businesspeople in our area to assist," he said.
The spokesperson for the Thulamela Municipality, Mr Nndwamato Tshiila, confirmed that they had received reports of incidents where the storm had caused damage. He said officials from the municipality were on the ground assessing the damage and the type of intervention those affected would need.
The freak storm caused damage estimated at hundreds of millions in the Piesanghoek area (Levubu). It struck roughly 13 farms and destroyed crops, and the rain was accompanied by hailstones, some the size of golf balls.
Mr Fritz Ahrens, chairperson of the Louis Trichardt Farmers Association, was one of the farmers who saw his avocado orchards being destroyed in a matter of minutes. He estimated his losses at more than R5 million. Ahrens added that the losses were especially devastating to many of the farmers as they were hoping for good crops this year to make up for some of the losses sustained from bad market prices and other problems in previous seasons. He was worried that the damage incurred would lead to more job losses.
Mr Fanie Havinga, chairperson of the Soutpansberg District Farmers' Union, described the storm as a disaster. He reckoned that the damage ran into hundreds of millions of rands. Havinga also said that such a storm was a rare phenomenon in the region this time of the year. He said the intensity of such freak storms was increasing, which made many people wonder if this is not the effect of weather patterns that are changing internationally.
Last week, the South African Weather Service warned against changes in the weather patterns. In its monthly Seasonal Climate Watch , it describes the effects of the La Niña pattern, warning that it may lead to a wet winter season for the northeastern parts of the country. .
"The multi-model rainfall forecast indicates above-normal rainfall for the northeast of the country and below-normal rainfall for the southwest during all predicted seasons. As most of the rainfall during winter is expected in the far southwest, the below-normal rainfall conditions in those areas are expected to have a significant impact," the weather service said.
"The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is currently in a La Niña state, and forecasts indicate that it will likely return to a neutral state by autumn (Mar-Apr-May). However, ENSO's impact is limited for the coming seasons until the next summer season, which may be impacted by an El Niño state if early predictions are correct. Caution is advised, however, as changes in the ENSO prediction may change during winter and only monitoring is advised at this stage," the weather service said.