Central SA
Severe weather claimed three lives, damaged homes in Free State─── KEKELETSO MOSEBETSI 11:30 Mon, 11 Nov 2024
Extreme weather in the Free State has claimed three lives, left two people injured, and severely damaged at least 45 homes.
Responding to an emergency call on Sunday afternoon (10/11) in Botshabelo’s Section H1, near Sechaba-Se-Maketse School, officials found an elderly woman’s body (71) lying on the ground, said police spokesperson Peter Kareli. It’s understood that she was struck by lightning.
Emergency services declared her dead at the scene. Police have opened an inquest to investigate the circumstances surrounding her death.
Free State EMS spokesperson Sipho Towa confirmed that two individuals in Thaba Nchu’s Moroka Section suffered storm-related injuries. Local homes in Thaba Nchu and Botshabelo suffered extensive damage.
Two boys also drowned in Thabong, Welkom, in a water-filled excavation site which is a sewer network project.
In Boshof, in the Lejweleputswa district municipality, a total of 54 houses have been damaged by severe thunderstorms, with roofs that have blown away. The district response team was dispatched with 15 salvage screens, blankets, mattresses and provided temporary shelter for the affected families.
‘Families accommodated at the Boshof Caravan Park’
The Red Cross has also been activated to provide much-needed support. Families who are left displaced are temporarily accommodated at the Boshof Caravan Park.
On Saturday, the SA Weather Service issued an impact-based level 4 warning, warning of severe thunderstorms bringing heavy rainfall across the Free State, central and western North West, and parts of the Northern Cape. The advisory warned of potential threats from “strong damaging winds, excessive lightning, and hail”.
The Free State has endured numerous extreme weather events over the past year. In September last year, high winds caused considerable damage to at least 50 homes and a school in Bethlehem and Harrismith.
Three months later, more than 90 homes in Bloemfontein and nearby areas suffered extensive damage.
Some 250 homes were affected in Van Stadensrus alone. A seven-year-old lost his life, while a woman and a baby were hospitalised with storm-related injuries.
Last month, Free State Premier MaQueen Letsoha-Mathae called for thunderstorm safety training in schools after a Theunissen learner passed away when she was struck by lightning.
