More than 50 rural Eastern Cape families are picking up the pieces after a heavy storm ripped through several villages in Mount Frere and Matatiele at the weekend, leaving a trail of destruction.
Although no injuries or deaths had been reported following the tempest, Alfred Nzo district municipal spokesman Ndabuko Masumpa revealed yesterday as many as 51 houses were damaged by heavy rains accompanied by strong winds which hit the district on Saturday evening.
Masumpa said four families in Mount Frere were homeless after their homes were destroyed by the storm. Another family in a village in Matatiele was also left without a home.
“The heavy rain and hail hit the town of Mount Frere causing damages to homes in the villages of Osborn, Mvuzi and Mangqamzeni,” he said.
The spokesman said as many as 37 houses had been partially damaged in Mount Frere and a further four homes totally destroyed on Saturday.
In Nkau and another village in Matatiele, up to 10 houses were damaged when their roofs were blown off by strong winds.
Sibongiseni Nongalaza, 44, from Osborn village in Mount Frere, said he had been visiting relatives not far from his home when the storm hit.
However, he was unable to get home on time and only left after the heavy rains had subsided, only to find that his RDP house built for him and his elderly mother had been blown away. Masumpa said electricity infrastructure in some of the affected villages had also been damaged.
He said the district municipality would provide building materials for those whose houses were partially destroyed by the storm.
The department of human settlements would also be roped in to assist in providing temporary shelters for those whose houses suffered extensive damage and were rendered homeless.
Families left homeless after fierce fierce storm wreaks destruction
Although no injuries or deaths had been reported following the tempest, Alfred Nzo district municipal spokesman Ndabuko Masumpa revealed yesterday as many as 51 houses were damaged by heavy rains accompanied by strong winds which hit the district on Saturday evening.
Masumpa said four families in Mount Frere were homeless after their homes were destroyed by the storm. Another family in a village in Matatiele was also left without a home.
“The heavy rain and hail hit the town of Mount Frere causing damages to homes in the villages of Osborn, Mvuzi and Mangqamzeni,” he said.
The spokesman said as many as 37 houses had been partially damaged in Mount Frere and a further four homes totally destroyed on Saturday.
In Nkau and another village in Matatiele, up to 10 houses were damaged when their roofs were blown off by strong winds.
Sibongiseni Nongalaza, 44, from Osborn village in Mount Frere, said he had been visiting relatives not far from his home when the storm hit.
However, he was unable to get home on time and only left after the heavy rains had subsided, only to find that his RDP house built for him and his elderly mother had been blown away. Masumpa said electricity infrastructure in some of the affected villages had also been damaged.
He said the district municipality would provide building materials for those whose houses were partially destroyed by the storm.
The department of human settlements would also be roped in to assist in providing temporary shelters for those whose houses suffered extensive damage and were rendered homeless.
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