STRONG winds, rain and hail hit Johannesburg and its surrounding areas on Wednesday night blowing roofs of houses on the East Rand and overturning light aircraft at a Midrand airport. Grand Central Airport manager Jeanette Rennie said that gale-force winds had hit the airport on Wednesday night and described the scene as ”sheer devastation.” Two groups of hangars were also damaged by the winds and airport staff are still assessing the extent of the damage. Tembisa assistant fire chief Willem Weideman said that ”a lot of houses” on the East Rand were affected. There was considerable rain damage, Weideman said, adding that some municipal workers had not reported for duty as they tried to repair their dwellings. Basil Smith, chief building inspector for Kempton Park, said a large number of shacks in informal settlements had lost corrugated iron roofs. The Weather Bureau in Pretoria said conditions were ripe for strong gusty winds over Gauteng on Wednesday when forecasters warned of ”tornado strength winds” in the Heidelberg area. – Sapa