KZN has a history with tornados says expert
A local weather expert says tornadoes in KwaZulu-Natal are not as rare as we think.
Agrometeorology lecturer at UKZN, Alistair Clulow says tornados have been documented since the early 1900s in the province.
Clulow been commenting on the four tornadoes that formed during severe weather conditions in parts of KZN.
READ: Warning of more bad weather in KZN
The most recent barrelled through Utrecht and Ulundi this past weekend, leaving a trail of devastation in its wake.
Clulow, however, says the time gaps between the twisters are concerning. He says it's a prediction linked to climate change.
"A tornado is a part of a storm; normally, it is quite an extreme event that occurs within a storm. A storm in itself is quite an extreme event. So its sort of having a double extreme."
"People normally think about increasing temperature and changing rainfall patterns, and we battle to agree on exactly how those things are going to change. But the one thing we all agree on is that there will be more extreme weather. So, that maybe what we are seeing now with these tornados," he said.
The Amajuba District Mayor, Dr Musa Ngubane says residents were terrified when a tornado smashed into Utrecht.
Ngubane says families affected by this weekend tornado in Utrecht have started rebuilding.
As mop-up operations began in the small town on Sunday, Ngubane says locals have come out to clean up the chaos left by the twister.
On Friday night, a tornado struck the town north of KZN, damaging over 106 households including the Watervaal Correctional Centre.
Correctional Services Minster Ronald Lamola also visited the prison yesterday after hearing news about the tornado.
Ngubane says although it will be expensive to replace the material structures, the residents won't forget the traumatic night.
"One of them said, you know what I have kids. He took them in the toilet and closed the toilet and held them in and around there. It was a very scary environment in which they were, because they were scared."
"Kids were just screaming - in and around him. They closed themselves within a small corner in the bathroom. All they said it was by the mercy of God because they just stayed to together and prayed. It was just the mercy of God that they escaped without any injuries," he said.
Destitute families are currently living with relatives, while others are provided with temporary shelters.
KZN Cogta says disaster management teams have been spread thin across the province to assist communities affected by the tornado in Ulundi and Utrecht.
