Heavy downpour leaves trail of destruction in EL

HEAVY rains flooded the homes of hundreds of families in and around East London on Tuesday night causing widespread damage.

Furniture, electrical boxes and telephone lines around the city were destroyed.

Most of the homes damaged were in the Mdantsane, Reeston, and Duncan Village informal settlements and areas of Pefferville.

Duncan Village resident Thandokazi Jampa said she woke up at about 11pm to find her house flooded, carpets washed away and furniture damaged.

Another family in Pefferville suffered severe damage to their home.

The rain destroyed a fence at the back of their house, causing water to flood inside the house.

House owner Doreen Whittington said the water was knee-deep: “We did not sleep at all last night and we are still trying to clean up the house and try recover some of the furniture.

“My biggest concern is the children – they struggled to get ready for school this morning as all their clothes were wet, and moving around the house was very difficult.

“The rain has damaged pretty much everything.

“The water went right up to our knees. The kitchen cupboards are all wet and damaged as well as our electric plugs and appliances,” said Whittington.

There were power outages in some areas of Mdantsane and Reeston.

Yonelisa Pauli said their telephone and television had stopped working.

“The storm was very bad. We had to drive to Fort Jackson to report the matter because the lines were dead and the TV has stopped working.

“The house next door has experienced a complete outage, everything has stopped working,” said Pauli.

South African Weather Services forecaster Garth Sampson said certain areas of East London had experienced heavy downpours. They had recorded 18mm of rain at the airport and 28mm at Greenfields.

“There were heavy downfalls in certain areas last night. However, it should be clear in the next couple of days and we won’t experience any storms,” said Sampson.

BCM executive mayor Xola Pakati, said: “It is sad that residents are subjected to such unfortunate incidents.

“Ward councillors would know of the incidents and deal with them accordingly.”

BCM spokesperson Sibusiso Cindi had not responded to questions sent to him by deadline.