Wind, rain leave homes gutted
HEAVY rains and gale-force winds caused major destruction in several homes across Durban yesterday.
In Woodlands, south of Durban, a landslide left two blocks of flats at a complex precariously suspended. The block of eight homes that bore the brunt of the damage was evacuated, while some residents in the block next to it decided to stay put.
Zanele Ntombela, who owns a flat at the complex, said she had no choice but to evacuate as the soil was “melting away” as the rain fell.
She was called home from work when a trench started to form. Ntombela said she was delayed by the heavy traffic, and by the time she got home some hours later, the ground had completely given way.
“The pipe that burst is coming straight from under my house.”
She told The Mercury that as she was busy packing and moving her household items, the soil was continuously being swept away from under her bedroom.
“I am confused, I don’t know where I will sleep but I will make a plan. I don’t know when this whole thing will be resolved but I do know there is no way I am going back, these units will have to be completely reconstructed – if they can get the foundations back,” she said.
Independent Media employee Greg Hutson was at home on The Bluff when the storm started.
“It sounded like monkeys on the roof, but I could see pieces of asbestos flying through the air. The wind was blowing so hard and the rain was falling horizontally.”
Hutson said as the storm intensified more noises could be heard from the roof, and when he saw the trapdoor into the ceiling rising and falling his fears were confirmed.
“When I looked closely I could see the sky, so I knew the roof was gone,” said Hutson.
With the roof on one side of his house gone, the rain fell straight into the house.
Several trees on the property fell, with some blocking the driveway and making it difficult for him to leave. A trip that usually took his wife Shellyn about 20 minutes, took her more than six hours as roads were flooded, congested or closed.
“We were just recovering from the storm a couple of weeks ago. I have never experienced anything like this before,” said Hutson.
Shack dwellers organisation Abahlali baseMjondolo said they had reports of homes damaged at the Foreman Road and at Cato Crest informal settlements.
Secretary Ndabo Mzimela said in Cato Crest, two homes were completely destroyed when the walls caved in.
“Fortunately all of the residents were at work so no one was hurt. A young girl came home early but the roof of her shack had already collapsed, so she was not inside the house. She is at a neighbour’s house waiting for her mother to come home,” said Mzimela.
He said they were working non-stop to organise alternative accommodation for the destitute to sleep in before nightfall.