30 Lim families seek shelter after heavy rain
Spokesperson for the Vhembe District Municipality Matodzi Ralushai said that the municipality is working very hard and dealing with various stakeholders to assist these families.
LIMPOPO – In Muraleni in the Sinthumule area, 30 families had to seek shelter last Saturday evening after a heavy rainstorm left their homes in ruins.
Houses collapsed, rooftops were blown off, and trees were uprooted and scattered across the area. Tshirululuni High School and a local shop were also badly affected.
Muraleni is home to many unemployed and poor residents who have not only lost their houses, but nearly everything they owned. Last Sunday morning, they were still drying out rain-soaked mattresses, blankets, clothes and furniture, and trying to collect pieces of household items and anything that could still be salvaged.
Rose Liswoga lost her seven-room house, after everything inside was damaged. “When the storm started and blew the roof off, all my furniture, blankets and groceries were damaged. I do not have money to replace or repair anything. I did not sustain any major injuries, but I am shocked. It caught all of us by surprise as it happened so fast. I never thought that we would be left without a roof over our heads at this time of the year. We have lost everything, even our food. My children go to bed on empty stomachs.”
Christina Rabaloyi, a pensioner whose five-room house was also damaged, recalled the wind sweeping through the village and people running for cover. “Huge raindrops started pelting down, followed by loud cracks of thunder and streaks of lightning. The walls of my house started to shake, and the windows shattered. Then the roof sheets started blowing off one by one.”
Spokesperson for the Vhembe District Municipality Matodzi Ralushai, appealed to those whose houses were damaged by the storm to contact the headman or ward councillors to report the damage.
“VDM’s disaster management team had been dispatched to all the affected areas to assess the extent of the damage. The assessment is ongoing. The municipality and local municipality are jointly working very hard and dealing with various stakeholders to assist these families. In the meantime, we urge community members to also help each another,” Ralushai said.
