Joburg, Durban hit by wild weather
GAUTENG Disaster Management said the West Rand and Ekurhuleni to the east of Joburg were the worst-hit areas in Monday’s horror thunderstorms.
“There were malls and schools that have had their roofs blown off,” the province’s disaster management head, Elias Sithole, said yesterday.
Joburg residents posted pictures on Twitter of golf-ball sized hail, flooded roads as well as buildings ruined in the storm.
ER24 reported that two people were injured after the ceiling of Cradlestone Mall in Krugersdorp collapsed.
Gift of the Givers said yesterday the organisation was ready to respond to calls from Disaster Management to assist struggling Krugersdorp residents.
But it was not all goodwill after the hailstorms, which affected people in low-lying areas that were displaced and provided shelter at community halls. Sithole said: “An ambulance was robbed at gunpoint while assisting in Alexandra.”
KwaZulu-Natal paramedics were yesterday dealing with multiple injuries yesterday after galeforce winds, thunderstorms and heavy rain lashed the province.
Rescue Care paramedics warned motorists to avoid the south of Durban. At Amanzimtoti, Rescue Care paramedics were called to a below road-level home which had flooded and trapped residents.
Earlier, the paramedics assisted commuters to exit a taxi that was stuck in a ditch on the N2, near Galleria Mall, as water rose around it.
While the levels of other major dams in the rest of the country increased, water restrictions are still being implemented in the Western and Eastern Cape.
The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries urged farmers to continue conserving water. – ANA, Staff Reporter