Blown away
Area flattened in blink of an eye
A Midvaal father’s heroics saved his son’s life after a tornado uprooted his shack on Monday evening.
Sipho Nhlapo, 24, yesterday told Sowetan how he hid in a burrow after his shack was uprooted, leaving him and his family with nowhere to run to.
At least 31 people were injured after the tornado struck Vaal Marina, a village on the shoreline of the Vaal Dam, leaving over 1 000 people homeless.
“My son Nkululeko was being bathed by my wife Bonolo when the door was flung open. I got up to close it but the wind was too strong, so I asked my wife to help me push against it to keep it closed,” Nhlapo said.
He said a few moments later, the roof was blown off and he saw dark clouds overhead.
“We quickly ran to our son to provide cover for him, but then the whole shack seemed like someone lifted it from the ground as it blew away. My wife, child and I were also blown away from where we had taken cover,” he said.
His wife was blown 10 metres away from them and clung onto a neighbour’s caravan to survive.
Nhlapo said he was blown into his neighbour’s yard while clutching onto his son. “My entire home and everything in it were destroyed. But I am grateful we didn’t die,” he said.
The tornado struck at around 5pm. Residents said although the storm lasted a short period of time, everything they had worked for was destroyed in a matter of seconds. Zinc sheets, mattresses and clothes could be seen lying 2km away.
Yesterday, the Red Ants helped some residents in rebuilding their shacks.
Teboho Mashinini, who has been living in Vaal Marina for 15 years, said he was sitting outside his shack when the tornado blew across the informal settlement, and within seconds, everything was blown away.
Midvaal mayor Bongani Baloyi said their priority was to help those who had been affected to rebuild their homes.