Chronicle Editor
Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
A HAILSTORM that hit parts of Kusile District in Matabeleland North last week left villagers counting losses after it killed small livestock and destroyed crops as well as pastures.
No people were injured.
The storm occurred on April 20 in the Lusulu side of the district and the worst affected area is Ngcono Village under Chief Mabhikwa.
The area is on the boundary of Binga, Kusile and Nkayi districts.
The community had, a week later, still not reported the incident to authorities because of lack of mobile network.
Lupane East legislator, Cde Mbongeni Dube (Zanu-PF) who visited the affected area recently said such an incident had never happened in the area.
“We went there to attend a funeral and that is when villagers told us there was such a thing. This had not been seen before.
They said the storm lasted only 30 minutes and the whole area was covered in ice.
Some villagers used shovels to remove the ice from their yards and pens that were snow white. Crops, trees and grazing pastures were destroyed while some villagers lost calves and small livestock that were killed by the storm,” said the MP.
Small wild animals and birds were also killed and villagers were picking carcasses in the bush.
Cde Dube said the villagers were appealing for help.
“We were shocked that when we went there a week later the snow was still there in some areas. I had to take a report to the Civil Protection Committee because nothing had been reported prior to our visit as there is no network. Even some small wild animals were picked dead in the bush.
People had a lot of watermelons in the fields and they were all destroyed. Even wild fruits like umkhemeswane which people sell during the dry season were all destroyed. The community has appealed to the Government for help,” he said.
Chief Mabhikwa said he received a report about the incident and said his affected subjects were in desperate need of assistance.
“That area has Kalahari sands and crops like watermelons (that) thrive during droughts like this one, so they had plenty in their fields until the rains last week destroyed everything. People need help because they were left with nothing,” he said.
In Ngcono area there are swampy areas where villagers cut thatch grass which they also sell to other communities and this was all destroyed.
Some communities that were recently affected by hailstorms received assistance from the Government in the form of food, blankets, clothes and other essentials.
In a recent post-Cabinet briefing Information, Publicity, and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said the country, as a result of climate change, recorded an increase in weather induced calamities from 23 to 24 April, 2022.
She said violent hailstorms destroyed homes, schools, clinics and bridges in Matabeleland North, Midlands and Masvingo provinces. In Matabeleland North the hailstorm was reported in neighbouring Nkayi district while the Kusile incident had not been reported. — @ncubeleon
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