A woman of 81 was killed, 15 people were injured and hundreds of homes damaged as a devastating hailstorm swept through about 50 Eastern Cape villages on Wednesday afternoon.
Several bridges linking villages to urban centres in Ntabankulu, Mount Ayliff and Mount Frere and a number of schools were also damaged.
The body of Anna Sokoyi was later retrieved by Nqalweni villagers in Mount Frere from under her collapsed house.
Her distraught granddaughter, Cikizwa Mpetsheni, 27, said they were sitting inside the house when she saw the roof being lifted by the strong wind.
“It was around 6pm and I told granny that we needed to get out. But as I was trying to pull her out, the bricks started falling on top of her,” she said.
She ran and hid inside a kraal until the killer storm had passed. “I ran and told my aunt what happened. She was still breathing but died before an ambulance could arrive,” she added.
Their neighbour Zwelakhe Diniwe, 65, also watched his three houses crumble.
Diniwe was standing outside when he noticed a black cloud and dust tumbling towards the village.
“I ran inside but then the roof came off. I ran to the kraal where I lay in pouring rain until the storm passed.”
Alfred Nzo district mayor Eunice Diko and Umzimvubu mayor Khulukazi Pangwa yesterday paid a visit to Nqalweni.
The pair, who were accompanied by disaster management teams, rolled their sleeves up and helped the victims rummage through the rubble for personal belongings.
Diko later told the Daily Dispatch that the municipality would foot the bill for Sokoyi’s funeral.
“We have asked one of the villagers to accommodate people and have also erected a big tent,” said Diko.
Pangwa revealed that up to 70 homes had been damaged in Nqalweni village alone.
Masumpa said ambulances were finding it difficult to get to some of the affected villages as several bridges had been washed away.
Wednesday’s trail of destruction comes less than a week after another storm in Mount Frere and Matatiele left 50 homes damaged and five families homeless.
Deadly storm lashes 50 villages
Several bridges linking villages to urban centres in Ntabankulu, Mount Ayliff and Mount Frere and a number of schools were also damaged.
The body of Anna Sokoyi was later retrieved by Nqalweni villagers in Mount Frere from under her collapsed house.
Her distraught granddaughter, Cikizwa Mpetsheni, 27, said they were sitting inside the house when she saw the roof being lifted by the strong wind.
“It was around 6pm and I told granny that we needed to get out. But as I was trying to pull her out, the bricks started falling on top of her,” she said.
She ran and hid inside a kraal until the killer storm had passed. “I ran and told my aunt what happened. She was still breathing but died before an ambulance could arrive,” she added.
Their neighbour Zwelakhe Diniwe, 65, also watched his three houses crumble.
Diniwe was standing outside when he noticed a black cloud and dust tumbling towards the village.
“I ran inside but then the roof came off. I ran to the kraal where I lay in pouring rain until the storm passed.”
Alfred Nzo district mayor Eunice Diko and Umzimvubu mayor Khulukazi Pangwa yesterday paid a visit to Nqalweni.
The pair, who were accompanied by disaster management teams, rolled their sleeves up and helped the victims rummage through the rubble for personal belongings.
Diko later told the Daily Dispatch that the municipality would foot the bill for Sokoyi’s funeral.
“We have asked one of the villagers to accommodate people and have also erected a big tent,” said Diko.
Pangwa revealed that up to 70 homes had been damaged in Nqalweni village alone.
Masumpa said ambulances were finding it difficult to get to some of the affected villages as several bridges had been washed away.
Wednesday’s trail of destruction comes less than a week after another storm in Mount Frere and Matatiele left 50 homes damaged and five families homeless.
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