11 July 2024
Fierce winds took the roofs off several homes, leaving rubble, electric wires and zinc sheets in the streets of Wynberg on Thursday morning. Photos: Ashraf Hendricks
Strong winds ripped off roofs and uprooted trees in Wynberg in Cape Town during the night of Wednesday.
Residents and disaster management teams were on the ground on Thursday morning to help several families whose homes were damaged by the storm.
The roof of Wynberg resident Mansoer Wyngaard came crashing down during the storm on Wednesday night.
“We had a little bit of a disaster here last night”, says resident Mansoer Wyngaard as he inspects damage to his kitchen after his roof caved in during the storm on Wednesday night.
Wyngaard says he was not home when it happened. He says his wife phoned him at 11pm, saying that the roof was sagging. Wyngaard rushed home to find that the entire roof had fallen in, damaging everything inside.
“Luckily no one got hurt,” he says. He says he and his wife will stay with their daughter while they figure out what to do about the repairs.
The roof of Gualord Mbaya’s home was blown off.
“I just felt a strong wind,” says resident Gualord Mbaya, who was watching the England-Netherlands football match around 11pm when a strong gust of wind “took the roof”. His two children and partner were sleeping. The children are now with a neighbour while the family decides what to do.
Wynberg resident Khemal Harris looks up at his broken roof.
Storms in the Western Cape have affected at least 15,000 people since Monday. Several schools were closed on Thursday.
Both these houses lost their roofs last night.
Some residents were in the process of moving their belongings out of their homes on Thursday morning. At least four houses were badly affected, and overhead electrical wires in the area were also damaged.
Flooding turned the parking area outside McDonald’s in Ottery into a pond.