10 injured as hailstorm wreaks havoc in Byo

AT least 10 Bulawayo residents were seriously injured in Emthuzini Hope Flight after a violent hailstorm hit the area on Wednesday evening, destroying houses and felling trees.

Acting Bulawayo chief fire officer Edward Mpofu confirmed the incident.

He said the victims were ferried by ambulances to hospital.

“I can confirm that there are about 10 people who were injured in the hailstorm, of which some have spinal injuries, while others sustained serious head injuries, but luckily, no one died,” he said.

“The thunderstorm was really violent indeed because 50% to 60% of the 1 000 houses got badly damaged, while others had their precast security walls and asbestos roofs destroyed.

“These houses are under the Hope Flight Construction programme and victims have already reported to Hope Flight Construction and they have agreed to assist them since they are now homeless.”

One of the victims, who only identified himself as Mpofu, said the storm struck at around 10pm on Wednesday.

He said police officers came to assess the damage.

The violent storm also uprooted Zesa poles near Brady Barracks.

The poles fell on a haulage truck travelling along the Harare-Bulawayo Road, trapping the driver inside.

Zesa employees worked around the clock to remove the live cables and free the trapped driver.

When Southern Eye visited the scene, Zesa workers were still making frantic efforts to lift the fallen poles and
cables.

The truck driver, Lovemore Kawere, said: “I am lucky that I managed to escape, otherwise I could have died because the Zesa lines were live. I was coming from the Grain Marketing Board heading to Harare. I heard something falling over the truck. I noticed it was the Zesa cables which had been blown off by the
storm.”

He said he was not happy that the Zesa officials took too long to attend to the scene.




Bronnen:
http://www.newsdzezimbabwe.co.uk/2017/11/hailstorm-destroys-houses-in-byo.html 
https://www.newsday.co.zw/2017/11/10-injured-hailstorm-wreaks-havoc-byo/ 

More than 10 people were injured and rushed to Mpilo Central Hospital after their homes collapsed following Wednesday night's hailstorm that left 50 families homeless in Emthunzini suburb on the outskirts of Bulawayo. The hailstorm also destroyed properties in Pumula South and Nkulumane suburbs, with the roofs of some houses being blown off.

Most of the damage was in Emthunzini suburb which falls under Umguza Rural District Council. Mpilo Central Hospital public relations officer Mr Ozias Ndlovu said 10 adults and an unspecified number of children were rushed to the hospital after being injured in the hailstorm. "The hospital attended to 10 people who were admitted on Wednesday night with one of them being admitted today. The injured suffered small tissue injuries and were treated before being discharged.

The hospital will also want to dismiss rumours that two people died at the hospital due to injuries sustained in the hailstorm," said Mr Ndlovu. He described the situation as a disaster. Mr Zvivovoyi said the District's Civil Protection Unit is carrying out an assessment in the area. "We have a disaster in the district. More than 50 households were left homeless after their houses collapsed in Emthunzini suburb leaving several injured. I have already dispatched a team to investigate the situation on the ground. We have also sent an ambulance to ferry some of the injured residents to hospital as we observed that not everyone had gone for treatment," he said.

Mr Zvivovoyi said Hawkflight Construction Company, which constructed houses in Emthunzini suburb, was assisting affected families by relocating them to unoccupied houses under its housing project. He appealed for assistance from members of the public, saying disasters of this magnitude require collective efforts. A Chronicle news crew visited the suburb and residents said they had gone through a nightmare. Some claimed the contractor had done a shoddy job. Residents said the hailstorm started just after 9PM and lasted for close to an hour, destroying their houses and property.

They said the situation was worsened by the fact that the area does not have electricity. "The winds were very strong. It started off with loud noises coming from outside, before we could even understand what was happening our door started making cracking sounds. It flung out and as we scurried for safety, the roof was blown off. At that moment we did not know what to do. The walls started shaking and bricks started falling. The house was collapsing," said a woman who identified herself as MaTshuma. She said she was lucky to have escaped unhurt but other people were injured.

Another resident, Mr Luckson Ncube, said he received an urgent phone call as he was working on night shift, informing him that his wife and child were injured after their house collapsed on them. He accused Hawkflight of building sub-standards houses for them. "When I came home, the house had collapsed. The building collapsed on my wife and minor child who were rushed to Mpilo Central hospital. I've lost all my property. I don't know where to start. Will the construction company own up to this," said Mr Ncube.

Hawkflight Enterprises director Mr Mngane Ncube said they might not have constructed some of the houses up to standard. "We want to apologise to the affected residents. We understand it's a very distressing situation which creates a lot of anxiety but we want to assure the clients that we are putting up measures to ensure that their houses are rehabilitated," he said.

Bron: http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/database/?pageid=event_desc&edis_id=HS-20171117-60636-ZWE