Weather

KZN weather: ‘Tornado-like’ storm and tremor felt hours apart [PICS, VIDEO]

The start to the weekend proved to be a strange and unpredictable one, after a freak storm and a tremor occurred in different parts of KwaZulu-Natal in the space of a few hours.

20-minute storm

A storm described as “tornado-like” ripped through parts of the province on Saturday morning, leaving a trail of destruction.

Reportedly only 20 minutes long, intense wind and rain at around 11am brought down a number of trees in Dundee and Glencoe, Northern Natal Courier reports.

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Talana Museum was particularly hard hit, with a large tree crashing down on the building, and flattening a JoJo tank.

Disaster management and traffic officials worked hard to clear obstructions in the road.

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It is reported that many roads are still covered in debris from the storm, and motorists are urged to travel with extreme caution.

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The severe storm brought the 50 th anniversary fun day at Dundee Junior to an abrupt halt. Photo: Northern Natal Courier
Disaster Management Workers clearing the roads. Photo: Northern Natal Courier
Branches littered Union Street. Photo: Northern Natal Courier

Richards Bay tremor

A few hours away, the Zululand region was rocked by a “seismic-like” event after a tremor was felt on Saturday afternoon, Zululand Observer reports.

The tremor reportedly took place just after 2:30pm, and was felt in varying degrees of severity by residents from Richards Bay to Stanger, uMhlanga and Durban.

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A map of the KZN tremor. Photo: Volcano Discovery website

One Nkandla resident told the publication he thought his house was falling apart, while a resident from Arboretum said his entire house shook.

Most people who felt the tremor said it only lasted a short while. No damage has been reported so far.

Volcano Discovery reports the epicentre of the tremor was 86km southeast of Dundee, with a “moderate magnitude” of 4.6, at a depth of 9.8km.

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The website said 134 reports of the tremor were made.

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Compiled and edited by Nica Richards.

These articles first appeared on Caxton publications Northern Natal Courier‘s and Zululand Observer’s websites. Read the original articles here and here.

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By Citizen Reporter
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