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3 months ago
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Boitumelong Special School in Thaba Nchu, Free State was badly damaged by gale force winds during severe thunderstorms in the province.
Facebook/Free State Department of Education
- A tornado was recorded in rural Free State on Monday.
- The province has been lashed by severe thunderstorms.
- The roof of a school in Thaba Nchu was ripped off, resulting in a teacher being injured.
A tornado and strong winds lashed the Free State during severe weather on Monday.
In Heilbron, a tornado was caught on video crossing over farmland, while the area also experienced severe thunderstorms.
South African Weather Service (SAWS) forecaster Lehlohonolo Thobela confirmed that the weather event was a tornado, but added that there appeared to have been minimal harm.
“We haven’t had any reports of damage caused. From the footage, it’s clearly a tornado, and it was within a region where we issued a warning for severe thunderstorms. It appears that a combination of storms in the area may have resulted in some wind shear, particularly low-level wind shear, along with sufficient moisture. So different systems met within the area,” he said.
South Africa had recorded both tornadoes and landspouts, Thobela said, with the key difference being where they form.
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“The characteristics in terms of how they behave and move around are similar, but in simple terms: a landspout usually forms from the ground up during the growth, while a tornado forms within a supercell, from the clouds down to the ground,” he said.
“Tornadoes are one of the characteristics of a severe thunderstorm, along with hail. It’s one of the characteristics that we use to identify that we had observations of severe thunderstorms.”
Thobela said it was not uncommon for that area to have tornadoes.
“We don’t have that much documented evidence of tornadoes, but now that we have technology for the public to record them, we are seeing more evidence. In regions that are prone to severe thunderstorms, it’s quite common for us to see tornadoes. They generally occur in Gauteng, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, and parts of Mpumalanga,” he added.
Damage to school building
Meanwhile, in Thaba Nchu, a school was damaged after strong winds on Monday afternoon. A teacher was injured, and several learners were traumatised by the event.
Free State Department of Education spokesperson Howard Ndaba said that Boitumelong Special School, which caters to 384 special needs pupils with intellectual disabilities, had “suffered significant damage”.
He added:
Eight classrooms were damaged, with roofs blown off and corrugated iron scattered across the premises and neighbouring areas. A teacher was injured when the ceiling fell, and autistic learners experienced meltdowns due to the traumatic event. Fortunately, no learners were physically injured.
“Psychosocial support will be provided to those experiencing post-traumatic shock. Learners will stay home on Tuesday for reorganisation. Infrastructure support is being mobilised to mitigate further damage from ongoing rainfall.”
Ndaba said assistance from contractors, businesses and individuals to help restore the facility would be welcomed by the school. Principal NE Nthuping can be contacted on 083 264 3081.
Severe thunderstorms
Weather warnings remain in place for multiple parts of the country.
A Yellow Level 4 warning for severe thunderstorms has been issued for Mpumalanga and northern Gauteng. This could result in heavy downpours, flooding of susceptible roads, low-lying areas and bridges, large amounts of small hail, strong winds and excessive lightning, the SAWS has warned.
A Yellow Level 2 weather alert for severe thunderstorms has been issued for the rest of Gauteng, eastern parts of Free State, south-western parts of Limpopo, and in places over the Highveld and southern escarpment of Mpumalanga.
