Durban — One of the worst-hit areas in oThongathi as a result of the tornado this week was Naidoo Road, next to Maidstone.
The Brijmohun family’s house was destroyed, leaving the elderly owners trapped inside. Even after the storm passed and having most of their belongings destroyed, they still refused to leave their house vacant in the fear that they would be looted.
Edwina Brijmohun, the daughter-in-law of the owners, is newlywed and had just moved into the outbuilding. They had fully furnished their house and were preparing to start a family.
“I just left work at that time and saw the tornado heading towards the top of Naidoo Road. I saw it coming, so I made a U-turn to get back to the robots, but I got caught in it and my car got damaged. I felt in that moment that it was life or death. My in-laws were in the house when it happened, they were shut in the room, stuck behind the door as the wind blasted through the house. Then the bricks came in and trapped them. They were stuck and that’s when our neighbours came to help. It took about 15 to 20 minutes to get them out. My father-in-law got hurt on his head,” she said.
Brijmohun said even though their house was insured, they were unsure of whether they would be covered.
“So, we’re really counting on the government and the disaster fund management to come through.”
She said despite the tragedy, criminal elements still took advantage of the situation.
“We were worried about looting so my husband and I stayed overnight. We were here the entire night till the morning. We just sat there, burning a fire so we had enough light and so the guys won’t interfere. We saw them go into the other homes but we could not do or say anything to stop them because we were alone and afraid. They were walking in and taking whatever they wanted,” said Brijmohun.
The family has moved in with relatives in Belvedere, a nearby town and said they don’t plan on returning to the Naidoo Road area.
“We definitely cannot rebuild here. We went through the floods which we barely made it through. I was supposed to have gotten married that week but the floods destroyed everything, even my wedding gown. We had to postpone our wedding and we only got married a year ago. We furnished our house, and we moved in happily, only to have our possessions and happiness destroyed all over again,” she said.
Sunday Tribune