The Easter weekend had a chaotic start as a severe storm caused havoc on Thursday night leaving major destruction in its wake.
Trees fell into pools, houses were flooded, carports destroyed and roofs were blown away during the storm that ranged from pouring rain to bursts of hail and an immense lightning display.
One of the worst hit areas was the Ballito beach front where a number of restaurants were damaged. Gianni’s Ristorante’s roof was torn off while Ocean Basket’s windows were shattered and glass doors ripped out.
IPSS Medical Rescue spokesperson Paul Herbst said there were a number of people with cuts and bruises from the flying glass and debris.
“Our teams attended four structural collapses, nine accidents flooding complaints and treated 22 people all related to the storm,” said Herbst.
To top it off, residents were also left in the dark as most areas did not have electricity because of the storm.
According to a post on the KwaDukuza Municipality’s Facebook page, power is still off in a number of areas.
Southern Network
Driefontein sub station is off due to the 33kv line being down. Affected areas:
- Ballito
- Shakaskraal
- Glandale
- Jex feeder
- Shakasrock
- Millview
Northern Network:
Off due to yesterday’s storm:
- Prince’s Grant
- Blythedale
- Doesburg
- New G
- Lindelani
- Shombela
“Artisans are in the areas working to restore supply.”
Below are some of the comments shared on social media by Ballito residents:
Jeanne Botha: Power off in Seaward. House flooded and tiles blown off roof.
Diane Cochran: We lost our whole carport and Wendy house and a tree.
Chané Nel Foxcroft: Our house got wrecked. Window broken, roof tiles are all gone and trees uprooted. Umhlali Country Club got hit badly from my side of estate.
Sylvia Roets VD Westhuizen: We drove from the airport via the M4 towards Ballito. We parked under a bridge – wind was terrible, it rained like mad and there was some hail. About four trees in the road. I was so scared.
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