Storm leaves trail of devastation in Margate
Police yesterday embarked on a very difficult mission to extricate the bodies of three people from a vehicle that crashed down an embankment after being swept off the low-level bridge near Fiddlewood farm in Margate during Sunday’s storm.
Members of the Port Shepstone K9 Search and Rescue Unit, who were joined by members from MedEvac, were on scene early yesterday, using the jaws of life to break open the vehicle and access the bodies of the victims, who are believed to be a couple and their child.
“The vehicle was located about 5 km away near the highway, with three occupants still inside the vehicle,” said Glen Preston of Med-Evac.
A fourth person was reportedly killed after being struck by lightning.
Margate CBD suffered significant damage to buildings and water and road infrastructure after the massive storm wreaked havoc along the KZN South Coast.
Ugu Mayor Skhumbuzo Mqadi yesterday led a delegation of multi-disciplinary teams to the areas affected by the heavy downpour.
France Zama, spokesperson of Ugu District Municipality, said a co-ordinated clean-up operation was in progress, while cost implications of the damages caused were still being consolidated.
Eskom, meanwhile, said the storm resulted in extensive power outages. The power utility said Eskom technicians have started to restore power in certain areas, while others remained inaccessible.
“It’s important to treat all installations as live,” an Eskom spokesperson warned.
Residents were yesterday urged to be on high alert as the South African Weather Services released a Level 5 warning, with disruptive rain predicted for Ray Nkonyeni Municipality, Umzumbe and Umdoni areas.
The public were advised to take precautionary measures by moving to safer places and avoid travelling to mitigate risk, as the thunderstorms may cause localised damage to settlements, vehicles, livelihood, livestock and power surges due to excessive lightning. The public were also warned of localised injuries and danger to life due to lightning.
Motorists were also strongly advised to avoid travelling during this period.