About 400 people were displaced following Tuesday’s tornado that struck Tembisa.
The City of Ekurhuleni established a Joint Operational Centre (JoC) to assist victims of the tornado that swept through parts of Tembisa, blowing off the entire roof of Phumulani Mall, damaging outside buildings of the Tembisa Hospital and affecting numerous households. “Victims of the thunderstorm can contact the JoC on 011 458 0911. The JoC will be functional 24 hours until the situation has been normalised,” said Mr Themba Gadebe, Ekurhuleni’s spokesperson.
Various Ekurhuleni teams were on the ground, including Eskom and the City’s Energy Department, working on restoring power outages in the area.
“Search and rescue operations at the mall have been completed and the city can confirm, after thorough searching, that there is no one trapped in the debris,” said Mr Gadebe on Wednesday morning.
“The City’s Disaster and Emergency Services (DEMS) is continuing with assessments. So far, three people were taken to hospital with minor injuries,” said Mr Gadebe.
“Paramedics and rescue workers found debris scattered across the parking lot of the mall, as well as twisted metal lying at the entrance of the mall. Several vehicles were also damaged. It is believed the injuries sustained by three people were caused by falling debris,” said Mr Werner Vermaak, from ER24.
“They were assessed on the scene and transported to a nearby hospital. Fire and rescue teams conducted a full search of the area to ensure no one else was trapped. At this stage the teams have not found anyone else injured. The area was closed off by the local police and emergency services,” said Mr Vermaak.
The thunderstorm blew off the 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 Hospital View.
“The city is providing salvage sheets as an interim measure to cover the roofs and to prevent further damage to the affected properties.”
The nearest Rabasotho and Olifansfontein Community Halls were being provided by the city to accommodate victims. Food parcels and blankets were distributed to provide further relief to the affected.
The city will also deploy social workers and mobile clinics to provide counselling and other health services.

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