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An Eastern Cape woman was killed after a severe storm swept through the Raymond Mhlaba Municipality on Thursday affecting several villages in the municipal area.
The deceased was identified as 56-year-old Nomvano Jeku who died after some homes were destroyed and damaged in the storm. A 7-year-old boy was also injured in one of the villages.
The Mayor of the Raymond Mhlaba Municipality, Bandile Ketelo, said the severe hail storm caused damage to about eight villages in the Alice area.
He said the village of Cwaru in the Middeldrift area was one of the worst affected by the storm.
"There's no family that has not been affected by this disaster. Currently, we are making an assessment of the damage that had been done," he said.
Ketelo said he would be meeting officials on Friday to get a report-back on the damage and what needs to be done, but he said another would be held on Saturday, which will include other Departments and government stakeholders, to decide on the intervention need.
Meanwhile, PE Weather Office spokesperson, Garth Sampson, explains the weather phenomenon which caused the carnage.
"The weather event which caused damage over Alice and Middeldrift was a result of a severe thunderstorm. It could have been a tornado or a straight-line wind but there's not enough evidence at this stage to identify it," he said.
Sampson said these kind of weather events are not uncommon for rural areas of the Eastern Cape and can occur anywhere from October to March every year.
