SHAMAGHONGO – Heavy rain with strong wind left inhabitants of Shamaghongo village in the Mukwe constituency stranded after their homesteads were damaged last Wednesday. Their housing structures were damaged, with roof sheets blown away and thatch roofs destroyed.

“It happened in the afternoon at 18h00 when it was raining. The rain, coupled with strong winds, blew off the roof sheets. The poles were damaged, and things inside were damaged; about four structures were destroyed in our homestead,” said Lydia Kanyanga from an affected homestead at Shamaghongo.

Mukwe constituency councillor Damian Maghambayi on Friday morning went to assess the damage and the situation which the people found themselves in. 

“The rain destroyed a lot of homesteads. We also had a similar occurrence were homesteads were affected at Popa village on the same day last week. These traditional structures, once damaged, are very difficult to fix. You need thatch grass, wooden poles and mud. It’s a long process. It would be good if we could at least get them temporary tents where we can house them because they are currently displaced,’’ he noted.

Maghambayi indicated that it was not the first time that such misfortune rocked Shamaghongo.

“These occurrences happen all the time during the rainy season. We have no control over them, and during our disaster risk management meetings, these were the pending issues. We are also looking at how we can get financial resources to see how we should assist them; there are about 36 homesteads affected. The whole village has been affected. I’m calling upon good Samaritans to come and assist,” he added.

“On Wednesday while we were at Andara, the rain pounded us there. After two hours, we managed to come home. That evening, we found our homestead displaced, tree branches scattered all over and the roof sheets of houses blown off, while some were nowhere to be found,” explained another affected villager, Richard Moyowadira from Shamaghongo village.

“I started to fix what I could, and our belongings were also thrown all over by the wind that accompanied the rain. The rain was heavy,’’ he said.