‘I could see the wind twisting as it raced towards us...’
A Bhambayi mother and grandmother said they could not believe their eyes when they saw the wind spiralling towards them, as heavy rains and a tornado hit the northern parts of Durban.
They didn’t understand what was going on but found out the following day that the settlement had been hit by a tornado. Two weeks ago, residents watched as it ripped through homes, with pieces of corrugated sheeting flying through the settlement.
Neither of the women who spoke to YOUR eThekwini wanted their names published.
The mother, who was with her baby when the storm hit, said she had been terrified.
“When I looked out the window, I saw what was going on. The rain was heavy, and, in the distance, I could see the wind twisting as it raced towards us,” she said.
“I thought everyone was going to die. I thought about running, but I have a baby and I had to protect her. The trauma of seeing all of this and the pain I felt seeing our homes ripped apart gives me nightmares.
“A part of my house burnt down. The next day people came to help us - Bhambayi Project helped us rebuild our homes. But this experience left behind a lot of pain – I was scared if something happened to me, how would my baby survive,” the woman said.
The other woman, who was at home with her young granddaughter when disaster struck, she said it was like nothing she had seen before.
“I saw what happened and heard people screaming, some were running, it was chaos. I could see the wind picking up; it ripped through the roofs of people’s homes. It was scary,” she recalled.
“My granddaughter was crying. I told her to calm down and I would keep her safe. We hid in the house, but a part of the house got damaged in the storm. We stayed in a room that was not damaged. There was a bed there, so we stayed there until the morning after the storm. People came to help us.They said we should go live at the church, but I didn’t want to leave my clothes behind, I would not find them again,” said the grandmother.
She said food, blankets and building material were donated to her and she rebuilt her house. She said her granddaughter is terrified whenever she hears thunder and that it would take her some time to get over the trauma.
“I got over it easily. Life goes on, we get to see another day, we can't dwell on the past. Natural disasters are something we must live with,” the grandmother said.
Humanitarian and local non-governmental organisations came to the aid of the many people who were impacted. Reeling from the damage, the community are now piecing together their lives and have rebuilt their homes. The eThekwini Municipality noted the damage throughout the city could exceed R28 million.
Zama Zikhali, the administrator for the Bhambayi Project, an NGO, said they had helped 18 families to repair their homes.
“Roofs flew off most of the informal homes. We got the residents material to do the repairs so they could quickly get back on their feet. We worked with Gift of the Givers. We helped people with food and some clothing. The most damage was in the Ohlange area, neighbouring Inanda. There were a few injuries to some people but nothing too serious,” said Ms Zikhali.
Bhambayi Project, based in Durban North, went out to Bhambayi last Thursday afternoon to check on the residents. They reported that people had fixed their homes and were settling back into their normal routine.
Gift of the Givers were on the ground shortly after the heavy rains wreaked havoc. Bilall Jeewa, community liaison officer for the organisation, said Inanda, Bhambayi and surrounding areas had been most affected.
“The informal homes were damaged. Thankfully there were no serious injuries. We assisted the residents with getting them corrugated sheeting to repair their informal homes. There weren’t any reported deaths in that area,” said Mr Jeewa.
Mr Jeewa said 550 hampers, 600 blankets, 156 corrugated sheeting and 213 poles and rafters had been donated to the people affected by the storm in the Umzumbe and eThekwini municipalities.
