Do you remember the tornado of 1948?
It has been 68 years since the Roodepoort tornado
On 26 November 1948, residents of Roodepoort, Roodepoort North and Georginia experienced a natural disaster of note.
The twisting funnel-shaped cloud was first spotted near the Potchefstroom Road at about 6pm. Passengers in a train approaching Roodepoort at the time were terrified, as the force of the wind – moving at a speed of between 40 and 50 kilometres per hour – was so great the train was in danger of being blown over. The tornado lasted only a few minutes and was preceded and followed by severe hailstorms, with eyewitnesses claiming the stones were as large as cricket balls. Nearly all of the eyewitnesses described the sound of the nearing tornado as an “earth shaking roar” and “like a thousand express trains passing”. Everybody who witnessed the storm commented on the paper whirling around in the air, but this ‘paper’ was, in fact, the corrugated iron roof sheets torn off houses.
The tornado struck the pylons and cables south of Roodepoort town early on, plunging the town into darkness. The electricity supply being cut off was actually a positive thing – not a single fire broke out. There were also no electrocutions reported because no electrical wires trailed across the streets.
All rescue work was conducted in the dark and the injured were attended to at the Discover’s Memorial Hospital. They had to perform two emergency operations by flickering candle- and paraffin lamp light. 40 adults and 20 children were among the seriously injured and the tornado claimed four lives. The Hospital was full to capacity – making it necessary to send some of the injured to hospitals in Krugersdorp, Randfontein and Johannesburg.
The telephone system was down too, and the only means of communication was messages sent to the Broadcasting Station in Johannesburg by two-way radio. An SOS message was broadcast requesting medical assistance and the Johannesburg Fire Department, the Red Cross and St John Ambulance Services arrived at the Roodepoort Fire Station to assist.
Emergency relief stations were set up in the Florida and Maraisburg town halls with Roodepoort town hall being used as the headquarters. Donations of groceries and emergency supplies were received, and distributed among the affected. The people that were left homeless because of the tornado were housed in 50 tents pitched in an open space – earmarked as a school site – called “Tornado Square”. Other open spaces were used to stack cleared debris, and where possible, building materials were reclaimed and reused.
The Mayor at the time, Mr RD Corlett, started the Mayor’s Relief Fund and people from all over South Africa generously donated. After all the repairs were done, there was still money left in the fund. This was used to assist private individuals to repair damage to their homes. The balance of this fund was used to start the National Disaster Fund.
The mayor was so touched by everyone’s actions, he said, “The worst in nature has passed. The best in man has come.”
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