Severe storm with wind and hail causes havoc in Musina

Date: 29 October 2024 By: 

What started as a warm and relaxed Monday in Musina turned into a chaotic situation later in the day when a severe storm struck the area, causing extensive damage to households, municipal buildings, roads, electrical infrastructure, and vehicles. A strong wind, accompanied by rain and hail, blew off roofs and left a path of destruction in its wake.

Musina Municipality’s spokesperson Wilson Dzebu reported that the disaster-management team had worked overnight on Monday and had remained on-site on Tuesday to assess the damage. Dzebu noted that several roofs were blown off houses and that tree stumps were blocking some roads. A large section of the roof of Bonwa Udi Primary School was also damaged by the strong wind. Fortunately, the school was closed at the time, and there were no teachers or students on the premises.

The blown-away roof of Bonwa Udi Primary School.

Dzebu indicated that the hardest-hit structure was the municipality’s new traffic and licensing building, which was flooded after a significant portion of the roof was blown away. “We would like to inform our community that services at our traffic and licensing unit have currently been suspended because all the computers, machinery, and documents were damaged. We still have to drain the water from the building before we can even begin repairs, which cannot be completed overnight. Vehicles that were parked there were also damaged by flying sheets of corrugated iron, but fortunately, no injuries were reported during the incident. The building has been declared dangerous and a no-go area until further notice,” he said.

Some of the affected community members repairing some of the damage caused by Monday afternoon's storm.

As a result of the storm, many areas are without electricity and water because of damaged infrastructure. “We understand that it is very difficult to live without water and electricity for days, but we are doing everything possible to address the situation. Where it is beyond our capacity, we will seek assistance from the Vhembe District Municipality and the provincial government. Our maintenance team is working around the clock to restore normal services, although it will take time. We have also received reports of areas without cell phone network coverage, making it difficult for our residents to communicate with us. However, our councillors and community-development workers are assisting our disaster team to ensure that everyone affected is identified. This is a challenging time, and we urge our community to be patient as we work to restore the affected services,” he said.

Some residents say they have never experienced such a powerful hailstorm. Photo supplied.

Normal Sebe, a street barber who works at the Musina Taxi Rank, stated that he had never experienced such a powerful hailstorm in his life. “As usual, we were cutting people’s hair when this hailstorm came out of nowhere. Our makeshift structures were suddenly carried away by the strong wind, and everyone was left in shock, not knowing what to do. Luckily, no one was injured, although the damage was significant. We will have to rebuild our makeshift structures and start our businesses from scratch. We don’t need these types of hailstorms because they are very dangerous and destructive,” he said.

Viewed: 1217