Spokesperson, Qondile Khedama, confirms the heavy rainfall and strong winds left a trail of destruction in some parts of Bloemfontein, Botshabelo and Thaba 'Nchu. He says several roads were flooded due to stormwater drainage systems that were blocked, and confirms some roads were inaccessible while some households and backyards were also flooded.

Khedama in a statement says the municipality is now attending to the damage caused and assures communities that power utility Centlec is also attending to electrical infrastructure that was damaged and left certain areas without power.

"The City’s Control Centre received distress calls from members of the public, and these were dispatched to Emergency Services Fire & Rescue for assistance and Disaster Management to conduct assessments to determine damages and to facilitate assistance from other roleplayers such as Centlec and Human Settlement," he said.

Khedama has appealed to communities to report any road or electricity infrastructure damage to the municipality.

He further appealed to members of the public to take precautionary measures whenever the South African Weather Service issues thunderstorms and heavy rain weather alerts.

OFM News