Fierce wind leaves dozens of Muraleni families without shelter

In Muraleni, in the Sinthumule area, nearly 30 families had to seek shelter on Saturday evening (10 February) after a heavy rainstorm had left their homes in ruins. Houses collapsed, rooftops were blown off, and trees were uprooted and scattered all over the villages. Tshirululuni High School and a local shop were also badly affected.

Muraleni is home to many unemployed and poor residents who have now not only lost their houses, but nearly everything they owned was damaged during the storm. On Sunday morning, they were still drying out rain-soaked mattresses, blankets, clothes, and furniture and trying to collect pieces of household items and anything that could still be salvaged.

Mrs. Rose Liswoga lost her seven-room house, and everything inside was damaged. “When the storm started and blew the roof off, all my furniture, blankets, and groceries were damaged. I do not have money to replace or repair them. I did not sustain any major injuries, but I am extremely shocked. It caught all of us by surprise as it happened so fast. I never thought that we would be left without a roof over our heads at this time of the year. We have lost everything, even our food. My children go to bed on empty stomachs,” Lisoga said.

Mrs Christina Rabaloyi, a pensioner whose five-room house was also severely damaged, recalled the wind sweeping through the village and people running for cover. “Soon, big raindrops started pelting down, followed by loud cracks of thunder and streaks of lightning. The walls of my house started to shake, and the windows shattered. Then the roof sheets started blowing off one by one,” she said.

The spokesperson for the Vhembe District Municipality (VDM), Mr Matodzi Ralushai, appealed to those whose houses were damaged by the storm to contact the headman or ward councillors to register their damage. He said the VDM’s disaster management team had been dispatched to all the affected areas to assess the extent of the damage. The assessment is still ongoing.

“The VDM and local municipality are jointly working very hard and dealing with various stakeholders to assist these families. In the meantime, we urge community members to also help one another,” Ralushai said.

Date:15 February 2024

By: Kaizer Nengovhela

Kaizer Nengovhela started writing stories for Limpopo Mirror in 2000. Prior to that he had a five year stint at Phala-Phala FM as sports presenter. In 2005 Kaizer received an award from the province's premier as Best Sports Presenter. The same year he was also nominated as Best Sports Reporter by the Makhado Municipality. Kaizer was awarded the Mathatha Tsedu award in 2014.

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