Masvingo — Villagers in Rinnet Resettlement area have appealed for assistance from the Government and its partners to rebuild their homes that were destroyed by a hailstorm this week.
The hailstorm on Tuesday night claimed the life of Mwenezi Primary School pupil Giltar Makaza (6) who was buried under the rubble of one of the more than 20 houses that either collapsed completely or had roofs blow away.
It also blew away roofs from most houses at the Mwenezi District Development Coordinator’s camp and the nearby Mwenezi Clinic, leaving the entire community counting the cost.
The local Civil Protection committee was yesterday busy scrambling assistance to more than 20 families rendered homeless while also quantifying the cost of property damaged.
Affected families now require temporary shelter and food after also losing their food stocks and household property.
Mwenezi Rural District Council chief executive Mr Albert Chivanga said the situation was dire but the local CPU was making efforts to address the plight of the affected families.
Mr Chivanga confirmed the death of Giltar after being buried by rubble from a collapsed house where she was sleeping.
“The young girl was unlucky after she was buried under the rubble of her family house which collapsed when she was asleep when the hailstorm struck. She was found dead when the rubble was removed,” said Mr Chivanga.
“There is no final number of families affected as yet, but the situation is very bad because even the roof at Mwenezi Clinic was obliterated. Many families were also left homeless and require shelter.”
He said a local CPU technical team was quantifying the cost of the damaged property.
“We have a team that is on the ground to work the full cost of the property damaged by the hailstorm and the kind of emergency assistance required to help the affected families.”
More heavy rains are expected in the area today, threatening to deepen the crisis.
Heavy rains have been pounding most parts of Masvingo since the beginning of this week, with flooding in some areas.
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