adminThe affected areas included the shopping centre, Habane Township and the Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle houses.
An eight-year-old boy escaped with minor injuries.
When Chronicle visited Esigodini on Tuesday, affected shop owners and residents were busy repairing their buildings and piles of asbestos sheets were scattered all over the place.
Those who spoke to Chronicle expressed shock over the incident, saying it happened within less than 10 minutes but property worth thousands of dollars was destroyed.
Mrs Thalitha Ncube, who works at Jama Nkala Supermarket and Butchery, said the winds were strong such that even moving cars were forced to stop.
“It was very frightening because the winds were strong and within less than 10 minutes the roof of our shop was blown away.
The asbestos sheets landed about five metres from the shop. Vendors who were selling their wares outside the shop rushed inside as the huge pillars that were supporting the roof fell,” said Mrs Ncube.
More than 20 households were affected by the strong winds at the Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle houses.
Some of the residents who could not afford to repair their houses had to seek accommodation at neighbours’ houses.
“It happened on Friday. The winds were coming from all directions and within seconds I heard a loud noise and saw pieces of asbestos sheets falling to the ground.
“We decided to move out of the house and stand on the verandah as we did not know where to go. A few minutes later, it was calm,” said Mrs Joyce Moyo.
She, however, said the strong winds were becoming a common phenomenon in the area, a development that was frightening.
“This happened last year and some roofs were destroyed by the winds but this year more people were affected and a boy was injured, although he sustained minor injuries on the head.”
A motorist from the area said he was driving when the incident occurred and was forced to park the vehicle as the winds were too strong.
“I was driving towards the shopping centre and realised that the car was moving sideways. When I looked outside the window the driver who was in front of me was pulling off the road and I did the same.
“I witnessed some shop roofs being blown away and it happened within a short space of time. I hope this does not happen again because people might lose their lives,” said the motorist.
Online Reporter