Whirlwind tears through Edenvale
“Everyone was so fantastic, it was like watching disaster management at its best.”
Edenvale CBD was whipped into a whirlwind of excitement when strong winds, described as a “mini tornado”, blew through town and tore the roof of Tails and Whiskers Charity Shop off.
The powerful winds not only damaged the building, but lifted one of the store’s staff members about 40cm in the air.
Sharon Blackwell from the store said she and staff first noticed the approaching storm at about 3.30pm on January 8.
“I looked up, towards Van Riebeek Avenue, and saw a flock of birds flying in a panicked manner.
“The formation of the birds was all wrong. I knew something bad was going to happen.”
Sharon said she just hoped she and the other staff members would make it home before the storm hit.
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She told one of the workers, Decent Nyahanana, to start packing up the donations.
While locking up the store, Sharon felt the wind blowing through the store and felt its strength.
“When I felt the power of the wind, I shouted for everyone to get down.
“I had all of my weight against the back door as I tried to shut it to stop the flow of air, but all that was going through my mind was that Decent was still outside.”
While trying to keep the door shut Sharon kept screaming for Decent, asking him if he was all right.
Unbeknown to Sharon, Decent had been plucked into the air by the wind while he was outside.
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“We had a lot of stuff outside and I was moving donations into the shop. When I came back outside, I felt the strength of the wind and tried to hold them down, but the wind was too powerful,” said Decent.
“I couldn’t believe it when I was in the air and saw a heavy suitcase filled with clothes flying past me.”
Only after he went inside to tell Sharon what had happened was he told about the damage to the roof.
Sharon said the wind tore the metal roof off their building and blew it across Third Street where it hit a street light.
She said everyone at the store was extremely grateful no vehicles or pedestrians were on the other side of the street.
As soon as everything had ended Sharon phoned Edenvale City Improvement District manager Linda Mckenzie for assistance.
“After I made the phone call the community just sprang into action to help us and two fire engines blocked off the street so the debris could be removed,” said Sharon.
“Everyone was so fantastic. It was like watching disaster management at its best.”
Although the roof was ripped off, Sharon explained that because it is an old building it had a double roof.
To prevent the lower roof from blowing away sandbags were placed on top of it to weigh it down.
Sharon thanked everyone for their assistance and offers of help.
cta – video
