Shacks Fly As ‘Tornado’ Batters West Rand, Clips Capture Destruction As Dozens Injured
- Numerous videos have surfaced online showing a significant weather event in Gauteng that caused widespread destruction
- The reported tornado on Wednesday, 27 November 2024, destroyed houses and businesses and left two dozen people injured
- Social media users reacted to the material with alarm, with many surprised over the recent occurrence of tornadoes in SA
Source: Twitter
RANDONFONTEIN — A reported powerful tornado swept across parts of Gauteng on Wednesday, 27 November 2024, causing significant damage to infrastructure.
Numerous videos posted on social media captured the destruction left by the violent rotating column after battering Toekomsrus, Mohlakeng and Westonaria in the West Rand.
Shacks fly as 'tornado' batters West Rand
According to reports, two dozen people were injured in the storm.
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The Gauteng Provincial Joint Operations Committee reported receiving reports of a possible tornado. At the same time, the SA Weather Service (SAWS) said it was investigating whether a severe thunderstorm had resulted in a tornado.
Videos captured by residents and posted to X depicted the destructive force of the weather event as homes, businesses, and structures lay in ruins.
A video on @Abramjee's page shows a shopping centre in Toekomsrus after sustaining significant weather damage.
A second clip showed uprooted zinc roofs swirling in the air as a resident, who filmed the destruction, expressed alarm over what they saw.
"It can't be the rain causing this! Just look at the zinc [sheeting] there. And see how white it's gotten," they are heard telling another person.
The reported West Rand tornado follows similar sightings in Harrismith, KwaZulu-Natal, on 13 November.
Tornadoes are not common in South Africa. However, they occur fairly regularly, while their probability remains low.
University of Pretoria (UP) Meteorologist Prof Liesl Dyson said in an article that tornadoes usually occur during thunderstorms.
Similarly, the tornado that reportedly made landfall in Harrismith two weeks earlier caused residents to take notice of the weather event.
A photo shared on Facebook showed a gleaming whitish-grey rotating column of air near an informal settlement.
It was unclear which area or the time the tornado struck after a user, Sphamandla Sphah Dube, a Severe Weather and Information Centre SA group member, posted the image.
Since it was posted, the photo attracted a flood of alarmed reactions from many curious about tornado sightings.
It was no different for locals witnessing the West Rand event on social media.
@nevillembamayi wrote:
"Tornado? I doubt it, but storms and heavy winds, maybe. But, jerrr, that damage is insane."
@Petro_lk6 said:
"Sorry, guys. I’m so sorry. I pray y'all recover. [On] 3 June, we also faced [a] tornado that devastated in Tongaat, Durban."
@Cellydhl added:
"This is today [27 November]? That area with rain. I remember in 2017, my car was damaged and written off after the rain there."
@_Lolo_Pat noted:
"Many will say it's climate change. Nope. Read your Bibles. Such are signs that uJeso uyabuya (Jesus is coming) ... repent and change your ways."
@blackRobbinHoo1 offered:
"[It's] crazy how the moment we started living like the West, our weather also started changing, too. Like snow and tornadoes in SA was unheard of."
SAWS warns of damage and floods
In related news, Briefly News reported that parts of the KZN will experience thunderstorms starting on 27 November.
SAWS has since issued a yellow level 2 warning for the province, noting severe thunderstorms and heavy rains, which could lead to flooding.
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Source: Briefly News
