Johannesburg | Friday
THIRTEEN houses at Ndakana location near Frankfort were severely damaged by a fierce storm that hit the King William’s Town area on Sunday afternoon and lasted for about an hour.
Area incident officer Inspector John Fobian said according to information last night eight of the houses were totally destroyed, leaving about seven families homeless.
He said police from King William’s Town, Buffalo City municipal officials and Amatola District Council officials were on the scene to provide relief and assist in finding alternative accommodation for the families.
It could not be established if there were any injuries and no further information was immediately available.
The storm, accompanied by heavy rain, strong winds and lightning struck at about 2.40pm and resulted in a power failure in the King William’s Town/Bisho area which lasted for about 2 hours.
Eskom official Letticia Ndema said the failure was due to a transformer tripping at the Penbrook sub-station as a result of lighting striking lines that supply power to the region.
Areas affected were King William’s Town, Dimbaza, Bisho, Keiskammahoek, Alice and Hogsback.
Technicians were sent to investigate the failure immediately and after discovering no damage to the equipment at Penbrook the lines were re-energised and power restored just after 4.30pm.
There were no other reported incidents of any major damage in King William’s Town, Bisho, Zwelitsha or Ginsberg.
At Breidbach a number of houses in low-lying areas were flooded and the fire department called in to assist.
At Kei Mouth the storm uprooted a tree which fell onto the station commissioners house near the police station, apparently causing substantial damage.
Fobian said members of the East London fire department attended the scene and there were no reported injuries. – Sapa