“My Car Is Messed Up”: SA Reacts as Pietermaritzburg Hailstorm Buries Streets in Ice in TikTok Video

A fierce hailstorm battered Pietermaritzburg and the Midlands on Saturday, 23 May 2026, and Mzansi could not believe their eyes. TikToker SamkeBandz posted a video of the chaos on 24 May, showing roads completely buried under thick ice. South Africans flooded the comments with shock and reports of damage to their cars and property.

The storm swept through the KwaZulu-Natal city on Saturday afternoon. Hail piled up to calf height in some spots, bringing roads like Clark Road to a complete standstill. It looked nothing like a South African autumn day.

When ice takes over the streets

According to reports, some residents had to grab spades just to dig through the hail that had accumulated. Others had no choice but to abandon their vehicles overnight. A food delivery rider was also left stranded in the chaos.

Fallen branches mixed with the hail and clogged drainage routes, making conditions even worse in lower-lying areas of the city. The flooding that followed only added to the mess.

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Motorists were urged to be cautious as weather conditions stayed unpredictable throughout the afternoon. Emergency services began assessing the full extent of the damage.

Online, South Africans were equal parts stunned and emotional. Many said their cars had been dented or their roofs damaged. Others joked that Pietermaritzburg had become Canada for a day. The comments section turned into a damage report of its own.

The full extent of damage remained unclear as local authorities continued their assessments. KZN residents know fierce storms, but this one clearly hit differently.

Watch the video below:

More about storms

• A TikTok video captured the moment that a storm hit an area in Cape Town and caused immense damage.
• A post on TikTok showed two men who made the most out of the Cape Town storms on 11 May 2026.
• A Checkers Sixty60 delivery driver went viral after struggling to lift his fallen bike during severe flooding and strong winds in Cape Town.

Source: Briefly News