Severe Spring thunderstorm leaves Tshwane in the dark
Severe storm leaves residents with damaged property
On Tuesday evening, Pretoria experienced a huge storm that uprooted trees and power outages in different parts of the city.
Emergency services spokesperson Charles Mabaso said no casualties were reported.
“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,” he said.
🔴 BREAKING: MULTIPLE REPORTS OF STRUCTURAL DAMAGE IN PARTS OF PRETORIA, DUE TO STRONG WINDS ASSOCIATED WITH STORM | 📸 YUSUF ABRAMJEE pic.twitter.com/aAYYCCGhiC
— Gauteng Weather (@tWeatherSA) September 19, 2023
He said there were also reports of shack fires in Soshanguve, fuelled by the storm.
According to South African Weather Service (SAWS) spokesperson Lehlohonolo Thobelo, winds from last night’s storm were travelling at speeds of up to 28 knots or around 60 kilometres per hour.
This was, according to Thobelo, to be expected with thunderstorms.
“Winds of these speeds (60 km/h) are expected with thunderstorms and are a normal thing,” he said.
“In some parts of Gauteng, the wind speed was at 60 knots (111 km/h).”
According to Thobelo, no further thunderstorms were expected this week going into the weekend.
Ward 59 councillor Shaun Wilkinson said a huge part of the region was still without power.
Wilkinson said some areas have been without power since last night and others since the early morning.
“On the official group, we have no responses, feedback, or updates regarding the cause of the outages, but I have received reports, messages, and videos of fallen trees, sparking wires, exploding boxes, and even substations burning.”
Wilkinson urged residents to check their reference status on the metro’s app, as most references had been removed from the system.
“Please check your status on the WEBHOP app and try to report again if your power is still off, and the reference is showing ‘completed’.
“I will continue to enquire about the issues and share any feedback/ updates received.”
The South African weather service had earlier warned of spring’s first thunderstorms.
⛈First Spring thunderstorms over the eastern parts of SA. A lot of storms around GP this evening (19 Sept 2023). These storms are producing strong winds but not a lot of rain. pic.twitter.com/ux7I1HtvHG
— SA Weather Service (@SAWeatherServic) September 19, 2023
Pretoria and Johannesburg had the worst last night , thought the world might end 😳 pic.twitter.com/L4RgxpKPrv
— #NativeOfBelaBela (@tsheko2020) September 20, 2023
Despite Tuesday evening’s stormy weather, Wednesday is expected to be sunny, with clear skies and a maximum temperature of 30 degrees celsius.
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