Limpho Sello
Property worth thousands of maloti was destroyed last weekend, when a violent storm tore through rural and urban Maseru.
The torrential rain and windstorm left families without electricity and shelter, schools and businesses in ruins and vehicles damaged.
One of the schools severely affected was Christ the King High in Roma. When the Lesotho Times crew visited the school on Tuesday, Form C and E pupils were writing their final exams in a partially-roofed hall.
According to the principal, Makhaola Serake, tragedy struck on Sunday afternoon and within one hour, the school was a mess.
“The storm hit us on Sunday between 3 and 4pm, and caused damage in excess of M70 000. Among the property affected was the hall, dormitories, and teachers’ homes. The storm also left us without electricity, which we badly need to pump water for our everyday use.
“So because of lack of electricity, we can’t have computer classes; we have also stopped our printing business because of lack of power.
“Basically, the storm has severely affected our learning process and this is disastrous for us, as an institution,” Mr Serake said.
According to Mr Serake, the disaster could not have come at a worse time for the school.
“The students are in the process of writing their final examinations, but the teachers can’t photocopy question papers for revision due to lack of electricity,” Mr Serake said.
“Again, the rule for writing examinations is that students should do so in a safe environment, which has put us in a very difficult situation.
“We have since addressed the students about it, so they can understand why they are writing exams in the open, and also why there is no electricity.”
Mr Serake further said the school was taking measures to ensure the situation returned to normal.
“We have informed the Disaster Management Authority (DMA) about this, and understand we are not the only ones affected by this adverse weather. But we have started to see what we can do to restore the electricity, but as you can see, some of the property is broken beyond repair.”
Meanwhile, in addition to the school, several Roma homes and shops were destroyed during Sunday’s storm. The storm also left a trail of destruction in Mazenod, Koro-Koro, Ha-Tšui, Ha –Thamae, Qoaling and Maseru Central just to mention but a few of the devastated areas.
According to the DMA Information Officer, Khopotso Phafoli, the authority was still touring the affected areas and was not yet in a position to talk about costs.
“Among the areas we have visited, Roma appears to be the most affected,” Ms Phafoli said.
“We have donated food parcels to some of the homes that we have visited and are still evaluating the destruction.”
