Help for 1,200 Tongaat residents hit by tornado

Gift of the Givers teams have been dispatched to Tongaat in KwaZulu-Natal, where a tornado destroyed a number of homes and schools on Monday afternoon.

“Currently over 1,200 people are displaced as disaster risk management and Gift of the Givers teams commence assessments,” the organisation said

Those affected were placed in shelters. Power and cellphone towers were down and many roads inaccessible on Monday night.

The South African Weather Service (SAWS) said the outbreak of at least two tornadoes in KwaZulu-Natal was part of the sudden spell of extreme weather which began developing at the weekend and would be moving away from the country from Monday night. 

On Friday, SAWS issued an urgent warning ahead of the expected development of an upper air cut-off low system. 

“This system was expected to develop a range of severe weather, including severe storms, heavy rain and flooding, heavy snowfall as well as very rough seas around the southern ocean and coastal areas,” chief forecaster for disaster risk reduction at the weather service Kevin Rae said on Monday.

Rae said heavy rain and flooding occurred on Saturday night over parts of the Eastern Cape including Uitenhage, Gqeberha and East London, leading to at least seven fatalities. 

“This afternoon KwaZulu-Natal experienced an outbreak of at least two tornadoes affecting Newcastle, Utrecht, Ballito and Tongaat.” 

The weather service expressed condolences to those who lost their;loved ones and those who suffered material affected by the severe weather.

“While the cut-off low system will be moving away from the country tonight and tomorrow, there is still a risk for isolated communities in high altitude areas of the Eastern Cape, such as Elliot and Barkly East where heavy snowfall is expected overnight tonight,” Rae said. 

Rae advised those communities not to drive on roads and mountain passes. 

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