The City of Tshwane Emergency Services Department is calling on communities to remain alert during the severe thunderstorms, following a Yellow Level 4 warning issued for Monday, 21 October 2024 for severe thunderstorms over most parts of Gauteng, including the City of Tshwane.
The warning was first issued by the South African Weather Service on Saturday, 19 October 2024 as a Yellow Level 2, and has since been upgraded to a Yellow Level 4, on 21 October 2024. Yet, another Yellow Level 2 warning has been issued for Tuesday, 22 October 2024, as the inclement weather continues to prevail.
The City of Tshwane Emergency Services Department responded to a building collapse incident on the evening of Sunday, 20 October 2024, at about 17:00, where it was reported that a house had been damaged by the storm in Soshanguve Extension 10.
“The Emergency Communication Centre (ECC) immediately dispatched firefighting units from Rosslyn Fire Station and Mabopane Fire Station to the scene. These included a ladder, a fire engine, a foam tender, and a district commander’s unit,”
“Upon arrival, firefighters found that the house had been badly damaged by the severe thunderstorm which was accompanied by a strong wind.
“They also found out that several more houses had been affected by the storm, and called for the Tshwane Emergency Disaster Risk Management teams to assess and determine any further damage, and the impact of the storm thereof. “Said the City of Tshwane Emergency Services Department.
After the assessment the Tshwane Disaster Risk Management officers, working together with the Gauteng Provincial Disaster Management Centre, determined that in Soshanguve Extension 10, about fifty-four (54) people from seventeen (17) households were affected, and in Extension 19, about forty-one (41) people from ten (10) households were affected by the storm.
In the Soshanguve Changing Spot Informal Settlement, about 200 shacks and 800 people were affected. The damage ranged from minor, in most houses (where only windows or roof tiles were broken), to severe where half the roof of the one house had collapsed due to the storm.
Three occupants of this house sustained minor to severe injuries and were treated and transported by the Gauteng Provincial Government Emergency Medical Services to Dr George Mukhari Academic Hospital.
