Weather set to clear after deadly storms

THE Eastern Cape can look forward to relatively clear skies this weekend after storms wreaked havoc across the province this week. The storms resulted in the death of two children and hundreds of shack dwellers had their homes swept away by floods in East London.

Heavy rain drenched the Eastern Cape from Tuesday to Thursday, with East London being the hardest hit, reporting close to 150mm of rain. Port Elizabeth received 63.8mm over the same period.

A cold front continues along the east coast towards KwaZuluNatal, according to South African Weather Service senior forecaster Deon van der Nescht.

Nelson Mandela Bay is expected to receive five to 10mm between tonight and tomorrow.

“East London will see another 5 mm on Sunday [tomorrow]. Snow has been reported at Tiffindell ski resort near Rhodes,” Van der Nescht said.

More snow is predicted tonight until tomorrow afternoon on the Sneeuberg, Winterberg and southern Drakensberg.

More than 200 Duncan Village residents, including children under the age of two, were crammed into a shack normally used as a church after their homes were washed away on Thursday. Five-year-old Nkundla Lambert drowned while trying to cross a flooded walkway in the township. In a separate incident a 17-year-old, whose identity is unknown, died after being struck by lightning in Emandlutsha Village, Elliotdale where he was alone at home in the family’s mud hut.