I saw the wind going round and round: Tembisa tornado victim

27 July 2016 - 16:29 By Penwell Dlamini

Residents of Winnie Mandela township in Tembisa are picking up the pieces and rebuilding their homes in the wake of the devastating tornado that ripped through the area on Tuesday. Gauteng Premier David Makhura and MEC for education Panyaza Lesufi arrived at zone 10 on Wednesday morning to offer support to residents.Local resident Elias Hlako said the roof of his house and those of three outside rooms were blown away.In Pictures: Tornado-hit Tembisa picks up the piecesResidents of Tembisa have started picking up the pieces after a tornado swept through the area on Tuesday afternoon, damaging buildings and displacing 400 people. "I was at work when my wife called and said our home is damaged. When I came back at about 8pm‚ I found that everything was wet and my house was damaged‚" he said."I have asked for three days off at work to fix this mess. I am just sad‚ but it’s okay because there is nothing we can do about it."His 15-year-old daughter Boitumelo was home at the time of the tragedy and said she was traumatised by the incident. "I was watching a maths show on TV when suddenly it went off. I jumped on the couch‚ opened the curtain and I saw a very strong wind going round and round‚" she said."I closed the curtain and started crying. The roof was blown away and I felt a huge brick hit me on the side of my head and I got cut on my hand by a small piece of zinc."More than 220 homes were damaged by the tornado...

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