Hail havoc

All hell broke loose in Honeydew in the early hours of 11 December when a freak hail storm caused havoc in the area.

Residents at Victoria Park Retirement Village on Piet Retief Road awoke to find some of their walls had collapsed, numerous ceilings had crumbled to the floor and their gardens lay in ruin amid the knee-deep layers of hail.

Patrick Ravenhill and his wife Audrey were slightly perturbed by the damp collected in their living room ceiling, but thought that the damage was minimal.

“I was having my morning tea in our lounge when my wife asked me to go help our neighbour,” explained Patrick. “I really wanted to finish my tea, but I thought it best to rather listen to my wife.”

Patrick had just walked out of his house when a few seconds later, Audrey came rushing after him to tell him, “Our ceiling just caved in.”

When Patrick went to go look, he found the neat, clean lounge he had just been sitting in hardly a minute before, in complete shambles.

The Ravenhill’s house was not the only home in the village severely damaged by the storm, as many residents came forward and said their ceilings had succumbed to the bad weather too.

“I was up on my roof at 3am this morning trying to dislodge the thick layer of hail,” stated Herby Fox who was grateful to still have his roof over his head. “I knew my roof tresses wouldn’t be able to sustain the weight of all that ice.”

The village belongs to the Belvidere Development Group and its representatives were on scene first thing to assist residents and assess the damage.

“We are doing everything we can to facilitate our residents,” said Belvidere representative, Arthur Butterfield. “We will be working around the clock to assist them as best as we can and do whatever is needed to ensure our residents are not inconvenienced too much by the storm damage.”