Times Of Swaziland: STORM LEAVES TRAIL OF DAMAGE IN  MATSAPHA, NGWANE PARK

STORM LEAVES TRAIL OF DAMAGE IN  MATSAPHA, NGWANE PARK
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Sibusiso Zwane on 13/01/2024 13:21:00


MANZINI - The Thursday afternoon storm left a trail of damage in Matsapha and
KaShali, Ngwane Park and some textile workers were turned back as there was no
power in factories.
On Thursday afternoon at around 4pm, heavy rain fell in most parts of the
country, but in the aforementioned places it was accompanied by strong wind and
it damaged a number of structures; including homes and power lines. During the
storm on Thursday afternoon, there was a traffic jam in Mahhala, Matsapha as
some of the streets were waterlogged.
Also, some roads were closed by trees which were toppled by the storm, but
Matsapha Town Council and some of its partners like Eswatini Electricity Company
sprang into action as they started clearing the road on the very same afternoon.
Also in Matsapha, several power lines were downed by the storm and some of them
were fixed on the same night, while others were attended to the following
morning. As such, some textile and apparel sector factories like Kasumi Apparels
III and Smooth turned back its workers yesterday. This was because there was no
eletricity as the power lines which brings electricity to the factories were
still being attended to yesterday morning.
A senior manager at Kasumi Apparels III highlighted that yesterday was supposed
to be their first day back at work for 2024, but due to the issue of power, they
had to postpone the opening of the factory to Monday. On the other hand, a
number of homes and power lines were affected by the storm at KaShali, Ngwane
Park. Some of the affected houses were rented flats.
Most of the power lines which were affected were attended to yesterday morning,
which meant that some parts of the area had no power on Thursday night.
Here are some pictures: