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Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter

HEAVY rains preceded by strong winds left a trail of destruction in Ndlovu area outside Victoria Falls on Monday night, destroying key infrastructure which included a school, a clinic, a grain milling plant and a Civil Registry sub-office office.

A bridge and several homesteads were destroyed while some livestock were also killed.

At Ndlovu Secondary School, which was the worst affected, lessons were disrupted after the rains damaged 10 classroom blocks, an administration block and teachers’ cottages, while Ndlovu Milling lost 10 tonnes of maize meal.

It is yet to be established how examination classes will proceed with their final O-level exams, which are ongoing. The school was officially opened in 1984 and has an enrolment of 300 learners and 13 teachers.

The Civil Registry sub-office at Ndlovu Business Centre, a water reservoir servicing Kachechete Ward and a waiting mothers’ quarter at Ndlovu Clinic were also affected.

The entire area including Jambezi was left without electricity as the rains uprooted electricity poles and trees resulting in many roads being blocked.

Ndlovu Secondary School’s catchment area covers six villages in Kachechete Ward while some learners come from as far as Matetsi in Ward 1 and Jambezi.

Members of the community including traditional leaders, Hwange Rural District Council and disaster management teams, on Tuesday visited the school and helped teachers to salvage the little property from the debris.

Learning material, including books and computers were soaked in the rain. Teachers and some pregnant women at the nearby clinic also lost their property.

Kachechete Ward councillor Givemeagain Moyo said five homesteads were also destroyed while some villagers lost livestock that were grazing in the bush after they were washed away by flooded streams.

Two cows were reportedly found dead. At Ndlovu secondary the wind uprooted some big trees that fell on roofs destroying them and learners were sent back home. 

The school is an examination centre for Vulindlela Secondary School and all classroom facilities used for the Form Four examinations were destroyed.

“We visited the school and noticed that the roof of the administration block and laboratory are a writeoff. The wind uprooted big trees that fell onto infrastructure and all stationery in the administration block including computers and furniture were badly damaged,” said Clr Moyo.

“People are still in shock as this is the first time for such damage of this magnitude to occur. This is an emergency issue because there are examinations going on. We are now appealing to different stakeholders because Ndlovu Secondary is one of the biggest schools in the district in terms of infrastructure and quality of education.”

Clr Moyo said the whole area has no water and electricity as a result of the storm. School authorities said they are yet to quantify the extent of damage. 

“Villagers had to assist by picking damaged books that were soaked in water and also helped pregnant women whose clothes and blankets were also soaked. We have reports of homesteads that were destroyed and some villagers that were injured,” he said.

Vukuzenzele BH126 village head Mr Hail Ndlovu said while there were no injuries at the school, the damage has affected examination classes and the welfare of teachers and nurses.

Ndlovu Milling owner, Mr Martin Ndlovu said he was yet to quantify the extent of the damage property.

The milling plant is housed at the same complex with the Civil Registry office. 

“Almost three quarters of the milling plant including our office was damaged and about 10 tonnes of mealie-meal that we had processed and packed was damaged. We hope that maize will be able to dry up,” he said.

Malayitha Bridge near Ndlovu which was destroyed by floods in 2019 and repaired early this year was also washed away. 

In its latest forecast, the Meteorological Services Department (MSD) said the country should have normal to above-normal rainfall during the coming summer cropping season although there are chances of normal-to-below normal rainfall in regions one and two in the very early stages of the season.

It also warned that there could be prolonged dry spells during the season and tropical cyclones were highly likely.–@ncubeleon