Volunteers and municipal officials provide assistance, but concern as more rain is expected
A NUMBER of houses were damaged when a storm hit Prieska on the weekend.
Roofs were blown off, flooding was experienced and some households were left without electricity due to electrical poles being blown over during the storm.
The areas that were reported to be affected the worst by the storm were wards 1, 2 and 5.
The storm hit Prieska at around lunchtime on Saturday and only lasted for about half an hour.
Many residents indicated that they “did not see it” coming as they had enjoyed a sunny morning; until clouds started gathering at around 12pm, followed by strong winds.
Ward 2 councillor Shaun Maritz said that while most of the affected households had received some temporary assistance by Sunday, they are waiting for the Provincial Disaster Management Team to provide further assistance on Monday.
Maritz said all the electrical poles that were blown over in Poliane Street had been fixed and electricity was restored by Eskom by Sunday night.
Volunteers and municipal officials performed assessments at the affected homes and helped to replace the roofs of some of the houses.
“We had to cover the roofs of some of the houses with canvas due to all the shops, including the hardware stores, being closed for the weekend,” said Maritz.
The ward councillor, however, expressed concern that more rain is expected and he is “not sure what will happen”.
