by Ilanit Chernick
Johannesburg - Tembisa residents on Wednesday scrambled to rebuild their lives after a tornado ripped through their township on Tuesday, leaving destruction in its wake.
About 20 people were injured and 400 displaced by the tornado, with 200 households being affected in the Winnie Mandela section and 120 affected in Hospital View.
Stepping in to lend a helping hand on Wednesday, Ekurhuleni mayor Mondli Gungubele called in the Red Ants to assist with the clean-up and repairs.
“The city has provided salvage as an interim measure to cover the roofs and prevent further damage to the affected properties,” Gungubele said. There had been no official estimate yet of the cost of the damage.
Gungubele added that food parcels and blankets were being distributed to those affected, with social workers and mobile clinics deployed to provide counselling and other health services.
A petrol station, Phumulani Mall and parts of Tembisa Hospital were also damaged.
Likening Tuesday's tornado to an episode of Storm Chasers– an American reality TV series documenting tornadoes – truck driver Tshepo Mashabela said he “saw this cloud coming down with a snake’s tail”, followed by strong winds and a hailstrom.
“It was going so quickly and kept changing form. I was so afraid because we didn’t know where it was going. This has never happened here before. It was the first time I’d seen something like it,” he said.
As the tornado moved nearer, Mashabela said it started to hail heavily and he watched as trees were pulled from the ground.
“There was a big wind, but we were lucky because we drove away in time. It was like watching a movie; it was like Storm Chasers,” he said.
An employee at Phumulani Mall, who gave only her first name, Mary, said: “There was this sound; it was loud like a truck was on top of us. The lights started going on and off. I hid under a steel table.”
Mary said the first thing she did when it was over was call her mother to check that her daughter was okay. “I was so worried about her, but luckily it was only here along Hospital View.”
A Total garage sustained heavy damage. The roof was torn off, while the front and inside of the shop were unrecognisable.
At Tembisa Hospital, carports, the ambulance bay and several outer structures of the hospital were damaged, with corrugated iron and uprooted trees scattered everywhere.
Three ambulances were seen crushed under uprooted trees in the ambulance bay, and several cars were stuck under crushed carports.
A man who identified himself only as Thando said he was fetching his wife who was being discharged from hospital when the tornado hit.
“Security was shouting at us to get inside and get to safety. The winds were so strong, people were running to take cover and there was a lot of hail. We were afraid for our lives. Nobody knew what was happening because this has never happened in Tembisa before. The damage was very bad,” he said.