Community rebuilds roof in aftermath of devastating storm
Tuesday night's wind speed was 28 knots, which means it was about 60 km per hour.
In the spirit of ubuntu, residents of ward 23 in Mamelodi came together on Wednesday morning to help rebuild a roof after it had been blown away by the storm and heavy rain on Tuesday night.
Tshwane experienced a huge storm, which resulted in roofs being blown away, damaged ceilings and uprooted trees in various parts of the city.
According to South African weather service spokesperson Lehlohonolo Thobelo, Tuesday night’s wind speed was 28 knots (about 60km/h).
“With thunderstorms, wind speeds like these are expected as a normal thing. In some areas, the wind speed was 60 knots (about 111km/h),” added Thobelo.
He said no thunderstorms are however expected this week into the weekend.
Ward 23 councillor Diamond Mashao confirmed the huge storm had caused serious damage in his ward, where roofs were blown away, and furniture and ceilings were damaged.
Mashao said he has already visited a few houses and so far, three have lost their roofs.
However, he said residents have already started helping each other rebuild them.
Mashao has also reported the damage to Tshwane disaster management.
“We will assist in putting a roof over the heads of the families that cannot afford to rebuild their homes.”
Tshwane emergency spokesperson Charles Mabaso said no casualties were reported on the day.
“Tshwane emergency services would like to report that no death or injury has been reported with regards to all the scenes we responded to. We take note of multiple incidents that were on social media,” Mabaso said.
Tuesday’s storm has left most parts of Pretoria without electricity.
Sipho Nkambule of Mamelodi said he was preparing to go sleep when strong winds started blowing and shaking the roof.
He said he opened his door to investigate and all he could see in all directions was dust.
“It was scary not to know what was happening, I could not see properly with dust everywhere,” said Nkambule.
“Next thing, the garage and outside room roofs were up in the sky flying in the heavy wind,” he said.
Nkambule said all they could do was remove their valuables and cover what couldn’t be moved with blankets.
In ward 67, a few houses including a local spaza shop have also lost their roofs.
Flying debris damaged cars, while a big uprooted tree at the Mamelodi West cemetery fell over, causing damage to tombstones estimated to be thousands of Rands.
Storm wreaks widespread havoc in the Moot
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