400 left displaced after devastating Tembisa tornado

AN estimated 400 Tembisa residents were left displaced after a tornado hit the township late Tuesday afternoon.

The strong wind blew off roofs of about 200 households in Winnie Mandela, leaving an estimated 400 people displaced. Other areas damaged by the storm include 100 shacks and 20 houses in Hospitalview, Themba Gadebe, metro spokesman, said.

Also read:

• BREAKING: Watch as tornado sweeps through Tembisa

• UPDATE: The aftermath at tornado-hit mall in Tembisa

• Five structural collapses in Joburg the past two years

“The City is providing salvage sheets as an interim measure to cover the roofs and to prevent further damage to the affected properties. Rabasotho and Olifantsfontein Community Halls were made available by the City to accommodate victims. Food parcels and blankets were distributed to provide further relief to the affected,” Gadebe said.

The City will also deploy social workers and mobile clinics to provide counselling and other health services.

The City of Ekurhuleni has established a Joint Operational Centre (JoC) to assist victims of the tornado, which also blew off the entire roof of Phumulani Mall, outside buildings of  Tembisa Hospital and numerous households.

Victims of the thunderstorm may contact the JoC on 011 458 0911. The JoC will be functional for 24 hours until the situation has been normalised.

Various Ekurhuleni teams were on the ground on Tuesday night. This included Eskom and the City’s energy department, working on restoring the power outage in area.

Ghaleb Cachalia, the DA mayoral candidate for Ekurhuleni, said: “My thoughts and prayers are with all of our fellow Ekurhuleni citizens affected by the Phumulani Mall collapse in Tembisa. This is a tragedy and I stand in sincere sympathy with our fellow citizens who have been injured.”