Sturmschaden

Heute im Swaziland Observer ·12 Dec 2016 ·By Starsky Mkhonta

DOUBLE TRAGEDY AS…

Young girl pulled from rubble and rushed to hospital Second time the constituency is hit by storm in two months

THEY say lightning does not strike the same area twice.

But this was proved wrong at Matsanjeni South Inkhundla when the constituency was hit by a devastating storm for the second time in two months.

Oslo High School was one of the hardest hit areas as the school was completely destroyed by strong winds which only lasted for 15 to 20 minutes causing damage amounting close to E200 000 last Friday. The damage saw almost the entire buildings left roofless.

Oslo Primary, which is situated nearby, was also affected but not as bad as the high school. Some of the teachers’ houses were also ripped apart and the teachers did not believe it when seeing the roofing blown off while inside their houses.

This happened while some of the teachers were away on holiday as schools closed last week while others were still at the quarters. Those whose houses were affected forced to seek refuge in their colleagues’ houses.

The damage saw school property and teachers’ valuables destroyed. The strong wind accompanied by light drizzle started at around 4pm. It is said apart from the schools, a number of homesteads were also left roofless and others collapsed and almost buried occupants alive. One little girl said to be a pupil at Hluti Central Primary School had to be retrieved from debris of a house she was in and had to be rushed to Matsanjeni Health Centre, where she was admitted. It is said the damage in the whole community was estimated to be between E500 000 to E1million.

Food, which included maize also got destroyed and some of the families have been going to sleep on empty stomachs with some spending nights in the open. According to the area’s Member of Parliament (MP) Edward S‘kiza Mhlungu, it was a sorry sight when he visited some of the communities as the people complained that they had nothing to eat after their food was destroyed.

He said he could not believe his eyes when he arrived at Oslo High as all the roofing in almost all the buildings was blown away.

“The administration block is completely destroyed. We are talking about the area of the school which keeps important things including documents and other important records. Equipment worth many thousands of Emalangeni is now left in the open and it is likely that some had also been damaged. It is such a sad scenario and we are not sure where we are to get the money to bring things back to order in the school,” said MP Mhlungu.

The MP said the relevant ministries as well as the departments tasked to deal with such situations including the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) under the Deputy Prime Minister’s office have all been alerted about the situation.

“There are areas in the constituency where the wind was also accompanied by hailstorm and I am talking about communities which had already planted their fields but everything was destroyed and it’s a setback again to some who were still trying to recover from last season’s drought. Maize fields are an eyesore and we just wonder as to why us out of the whole country,” said the MP in a painful voice.

The MP said when they were assessing the damage in the company of Red Cross there were over 35 homesteads found to be greatly affected in Kwaluseni (under Matsanjeni) while close to 10 were found to have been also completely destroyed at Bambitje.


“I am referring to homesteads we managed to reach. There could be more as we could not make it to all the areas in one day. Hectares of maize fields at Ekuphakameni near Lombiwako were destroyed by hailstorm which fell on that day. The havoc was immeasurable,” said the MP.

The MP made a special request to anyone apart from government to be of assistance to the constituency which is now prone to disaster. “It’s hardly two months we were in this Kani senteni kangaka?” same situation. the MP wondered.

He said anyone who can assist the community members with food and other necessities would be highly appreciated.

“Seeds are also needed as there are those families who were already through with ploughing only for their fields to be ravaged by the hailstorm. There are also families who had food reserved to keep them going until harvest time come but all has been destroyed. As for roofing, I just don’t know where to start.