Zimpapers Logo

Thupeyo Muleya, Beitbridge Bureau
RAINS that pounded some parts of the country since Friday last week have left a trail of destruction in Beitbridge district.

The chairperson of the district civil protection unit, Mrs Kiliboni Ndou-Mbedzi, yesterday said so far 17 houses and two primary schools have been affected.

She said the rains also destroyed some major roads.

“We have sent out a team to assess the extent of the damage on most areas across the district,” she said.

Mrs Ndou-Mbedzi said so far they have received reports on the destruction of properties in wards 11, 5 and 2.

She said no human lives had been lost yet.

“So far we have reports of 17 houses which were destroyed by heavy rains and some villagers have been rendered homeless. The worst affected people are those in Malusungane area in ward 11 where 13 houses were destroyed by the heavy rains accompanied by winds.

“These had their rooftops blown away while others were reduced to the ground. In ward 5, Tshapfuche area, a total of four homesteads had their rooftops blown off,” Mrs Ndou-Mbedzi said.

She said at Chabeta and Dumba primary schools, roofs for some classroom blocks were blown off.

Mrs Ndou-Mbedzi said the 113km Lutumba-Tshikwalakwala road had been rendered inaccessible.

“The road links Beitbridge with Chiredzi district and the Greater Limpopo trans-frontier conservation area made up of national parks from Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

“It is also one of the biggest link roads which links Beitbridge East constituency and the town,” she said.

Mrs Ndou-Mbedzi said they were expecting more reports on damages in low lying areas.

These, she said, include Tshikwalakwala and Shashe that are located near the Limpopo and Shashe rivers respectively.

“People living near the Limpopo and Shashe Rivers remain at high risk should we have more torrential rains,” Mrs Ndou-Mbedzi said.