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More than 300 homesteads were affected in Swaziland when a severe storm hit the north eastern and southern part of the country.
Head of the National Disaster Management Agency, Russell Dlamini, on Wednesday said his team had already visited most parts of the affected areas in the landlocked kingdom of Swaziland. No deaths have so far been reported, but 19 people were struck by lightning. The National Disaster Management Agency has dispatched tents and food parcels to help affected families.
Dlamini said that the country was still trying to recover from a severe drought.
Sylvia Mthethwa, the Lubombo regional administrator, said that almost 20 privately owned cars belonging to soldiers based at the Mbutfu Army Barracks were damaged.
Two family members were seriously hurt when the house they were in collapsed and a child who was in the house is still being treated in hospital.
Still in Lubombo, in the Big Bend region, the roofs of more than 100 homesteads were blown off. Schools and government offices were also affected by the storm, and a number of rivers burst their banks following the heavy downpour.
In north eastern Swaziland, homesteads on the border of Mananga, a few kilometres from Komatipoort, were also affected. Roofs were blown off and sugar cane fields were destroyed by the fierce storm.
Swaziland Electricity Company was also affected when more than 50 electricity pylons were uprooted, leaving many in the dark. On Thursday, technicians were still trying to restore power in most parts of the affected areas. Swaziland Electricity Company communications manager Sifiso Dhlamini said they were hopeful that most of the affected areas would have their electricity restored by Friday.
Assistant Superintendent Phindile Vilakati, the acting police information and communications officer, said that two people had drowned since the beginning of the rainy season – a 15-year-old boy who was reported to have drowned a few kilometres away from the capital, Mbabane; and a 17-year-old boy who drowned while swimming in the Great Usutu River.
