Tshwane mayor Nasiphi Moya has called on residents to report damage caused by ongoing severe weather conditions.
The clean-up operations across Pretoria continue following an extreme storm that hit parts of Tshwane this week.
City of Tshwane ward 1 councillor Leon Kruyshaar has urgently requested that wards 1, 54 and 55 be declared disaster areas, following three major hailstorms in the past few days in the capital.
Devastation across multiple wards
“The impact has been devastating and the situation is critical. Both Fortsig and Prince’s Park depots are overwhelmed with outages, struggling to cope with the volume of reports and falling behind,” Kruyshaar said.
“In ward 1 alone, at least 150 properties remain without power, some for up to four days.
“The storms caused extensive damage that included roofs blown off, collapsed under ice and broken windows. Vehicles were crushed by carports, battered by golf ball-sized hail.
“Over 15 trees were uprooted, toppling onto overhead lines, cutting power, and several [buildings] were closed temporarily due to roof collapses.”
Kruyshaar has commended the community and businesses for their support in search efforts, tree removal, traffic control and food donations.
“However, the city’s response has been insufficient,” he said.
City’s coordinated response
Tshwane mayor Nasiphi Moya has called on residents to report damage caused by ongoing severe weather conditions.
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“The city continues to respond swiftly to flood incidents, power outages and damage caused by severe weather conditions that persist across the metro,” Moya said.
“We have formed a coordinated response to the severe weather, which includes the dispatching of our emergency services department, regional operations coordination department and water and sanitation department.”
The Pretoria North suburbs being most affected, where hail damage and debris were reported, were Montana, Wonderboom, Doornpoort and Sinoville.
Tshwane metro police (TMPD) and emergency services responded to clear large hailstones from the roads, while TMPD managed the impact of midweek traffic, Moya said.
The energy and electricity department will continue to respond to power outages, she added.
Widespread damage across the metro
“The majority of the damage reported so far was of fallen trees that had blocked properties and public roads in multiple areas, including the Pretoria CBD, Pretoria West, Pretoria North and Pretoria East.
“Minor incidents of flooding were reported in Ga-Rankuwa and Atteridgeville, where houses had been flooded,” she said.
“A situational report compiled by the city shows that over 100 incidents were reported that required immediate intervention,” Moya added.
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