About 725 residents hit by hailstorm
MBABANE - About 175 residents under Nsingizini were affected by a hailstorm that hit the country in the past weekend.
Umphakatsi
The storm hit areas such as Sibo vini and Mgudvwini at around 3pm, resulting in 35 homesteads being greatly affected. It has also been gathered that businesspeople and farmers were not spared.
Worth noting is that within a space of two weeks, 10 home steads at Sithobelweni Inkhundla were also affected by a storm.
Selby Gumbi, Nsingi]ini Bucopho said the area had one of the most unusual hailstorms that affected them. “For years, we have never experienced such a hail storm that came with huge hail stones. We are still in a shock,”said Gumbi.
He also pointed out that schools like Hluthi Central 3rimary and Hluthi Central High were affected by the weekend storm.
He indicated that the learners attended classes yesterday despite the damaged roofs and windows.
He said the schools had tried to fix some of the problems brought about by the hailstorm. “Two schools were affected by the storm over the weekend. We can say that learners were able to go to school despite all this and they are in classes,” he said.
Shelter
Gumbi said the hailstorm was so severe, such that motor vehicles’ windscreens were completely destroyed, roofs were also left with holes. He said due to that, most residents were left without shelter and needed support from the nation. He indicated that the area had been without electricity since Saturday and that all the food items they kept in their refrigera tors ended up getting spoiled.
He said they reported the matter to the Eswatini Electricity Com pany (EEC), which later fixed the problem. He also pointed out that some small businesspeople were affected. He mentioned bricklay ers that had their bricks completely destroyed by the hailstorm. One community member said the hail storm they experienced over the weekend was scary as it left a lot of property damaged. He also stated that Na]areth Evangelical Church was also affected.
He said chickens were found dead in some homesteads, after being hit by the hailstones. Apart from the chickens, some farm ers who grow crops were also affected. Richard Vilane, Hosea Indvuna Yenkhundla confirmed the matter about certain homes that were heavily affected by the weekend storms around Nsin gi]ini Umphakatsi. He pleaded with the nation to support all the residents who were affected by the recent heavy storms. In another similar incident, 15 homesteads at Nsubane under Somntongo Inkhundla were also affected by the Saturday storms. It was gath ered that 11 of them were greatly affected. This was confirmed by E]ekiel Dlamini, the Bucopho of the area, when he was interviewed
Some of the bricks that were completely destroyed by the Sartuday hailstorm at Nsingizini by the Eswatini Broadcasting and quality material. “We advise that Information Services (EBIS). emaSwati should purchase strong
He further stated that farmers er roofing material, preferably were also heavily affected to an from 0.5mm on corrugated iron extent that their tomatoes and cab sheets upwards, because those bages were completely destroyed. can withstand hail much better.
Wandile Mavuso, the National We are also realising the fact that Disaster Management Agency hail is becoming more prevalent (NDMA) Communications Man in the country, causing serious ager, said about 145 households destruction to windows and roof in total were affected by Saturday ing. We strongly recommend that storms, which was equivalent to we should buy durable building 725 people. material to avoid structures be ing damaged by harsh weather events,” said Mavuso.
Baphalali Eswatini Red Cross Society Communications Of ficer, Nontobeko Mbuyane, said the society conducted a rapid assessment on the storms dam age on Sunday at Nsingi]ini and Nsubane. She said about 126 households and about 800 people were affected by the storms. She said based on their assessment, it was discovered that most houses had roofs blown away, or riddled by hailstones which had the si]e of a child’s fist. She further said all items were soaked inside the houses, which consisted of food, medication, clothing and school books.
She said the Red Cross Soci ety provided emotional support to the affected households. She mentioned that the Nhlangano re gional branch team was currently carrying out the assessments.
Report
Apart from the above men tioned affected areas, the report by NDMA stated that four house holds were damaged at Nokwane Sithobela by hail and roofing was damaged. Mavuso said they were still making assessments to con firm the severity of the damage. “Two households were assisted with rehabilitation material, one room building material for a new structure for one household and three tarpaulins distributed,” he said. He mentioned that due to limited resources, NDMA was prioritising the most vulnerable households.
Mavuso hadvised emaSwati to pay attention to the daily weath er updates because having such information was the first step towards preparedness. He said it had been observed that the most vulnerable and affected struc tures were those built from lower