By Zukile Majova
Political Editor
More than 600 residents in villages across Nongoma and KwaCeza in northern Zululand are homeless after a massive storm ripped through the area at the weekend.
The wind blew away roofs and brought down houses, while some residents reported losing furniture, blankets, clothes and important documents as they escaped the storm.
Disaster management authorities said a school and 75 homes have been completely destroyed and affected families were in need of food and shelter.
With the beginning of the school week, authorities are warning learners not to cross overflowing rivers where there are no bridges.
Eskom technicians worked all day on Sunday but could not restore power in many affected areas. Some power pylons had fallen over during the storm.
The power utility warned residents to treat all wires on the ground as live, especially as electricity could be restored without warning.
“Eskom is experiencing a high volume of electricity faults in northern KwaZulu-Natal due to infrastructure damage from the storm that swept through the area last night,” Eskom said on Sunday.
“Areas with high fault volume include Hluhluwe, Hlabisa, Mkhuze, Jozini, Pongola, Ulundi and Nongoma.”
Siboniso Mngadi, KZN Cooperative Governance spokesperson, said that according to the information they currently have, several homes were affected and roofs fell in, with other structures collapsing.
“This also affected public infrastructure and electricity. Some areas don’t have electricity and this has affected connectivity. People can’t make phone calls but our teams are on the ground trying to assist those affected,” said Mngadi.
Pictured Above: The Salvation Army’s property in Nongoma, KZN damaged by the storm.
Image Source: Supplied
