Hail storm hit Nkayi villagers stranded

BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI 

A hail storm left a trail of destruction in several parts of Nkayi districts last week and the government is still struggling to assess the damage because of poor roads, it has emerged.

Six homesteads, roads and a school damaged by the heavy rains that began on Wednesday.

The heavy rains that began on Wednesday destroyed houses and damaged roads

Matabeleland North Provincial Affairs minister Richard Moyo told VicFallsLive that the affected areas were in wards one, two, 13 and 14 in villages such as Tsheli, Sobunyonyo, Gampinya and Sovondo.

“The report is true as I have just spoken to Nkayi officials, but the challenge is that there is no (telephone) network (coverage) for us to contact our government representatives on the ground and the road is also inaccessible,” Moyo said.

“Once the place is reachable, we will give the status of families who lost their homes.”

A classroom block at Jabulisa Secondary School collapsed while livestock such as goats, sheep and poultry were killed by the rains.

Moyo urged affected villagers to find safe places to live until they find relief.

“For now, we would like to advise them to stay indoors until we find a way to access them,” he said.

“We are still not sure about the extent of the damage, but soon we will be there to assist those families.”

Civil Protection Unit acting director Nathan Nkomo said he was not aware of the destruction in Nkayi.

“We have received several calls especially in Gokwe North where infrastructure was destroyed, but for Nkayi, no communication has been made to us.”