Deadly storm hits Chiweshe school killing one pupil

By Tichaona Sibanda
8 February 2010

Villagers at Maodzwa in Nzwimbo, Chiweshe district in Mashonaland central province are slowly picking up the pieces after their lives and homes were turned upside down on Friday by a ferocious storm that swept through the area leaving death and destruction in its wake.

At least one pupil from Maodzwa primary school was killed when a grass thatched building collapsed in the middle of thunderstorms and torrential rain. MDC MP for Mazowe central, Shepherd Mushonga said the grade 3 pupil was trapped under debris after 200 students at the school took refuge from the storm inside the building.

Classrooms at Maodzwa have no roofs after the local community helped raise funds to build the school, but building work was suspended at roof level when funds ran out, forcing the authorities to conduct school lessons under roofless classrooms.

Mushonga said the downpour also destroyed text books and other school materials that were in the classrooms, and several other houses and structures in the area were demolished.

“When the storm hit, teachers evacuated all the pupils to a grass thatched structure for cover but strong winds and rain pummeled the building until it collapsed. Two boys, who happen to be brothers, were trapped under the rumble,” Mushonga said.

The teachers and other students used their bare hands to dig out the brothers. The elder brother was freed with minor injuries, but the younger brother who is still to be identified was pronounced dead at the scene. His body was taken to Concession hospital for a post mortem. The MP said the pupil would be buried at Maodzwa village on Tuesday.

‘I would also want to take this opportunity to ask well-wishers to donate $50,000 needed to complete the roofing at the school. The storm that poured into the roofless classes made them uninhabitable and lessons are currently being held in the open,’ Mushonga said.

The MP said he was worried schooling may be disrupted unless funds were made available to put up the roofing. He commended the local community for its support so far in raising funds but was now appealing to donors and well wishers to respond to school’s needs to roof the classrooms.

In the last week alone, fierce storms have lashed other areas leaving a trail of destruction. Over 700 pupils at two schools in Mhondoro are still learning in the open after a hailstorm blew off roofs of classroom blocks and destroyed stationery and furniture worth thousands of dollars last Saturday. The schools say they need tens of thousands of dollars to repair the damage.

The Herald reported that the storm destroyed several buildings at Mubaira Growth Point -- including the police station -- and surrounding villages, uprooted trees and incapacitated communication and energy infrastructure.

The paper said the storm came barely a month after another hailstorm claimed two lives in Dotito and displaced 54 families in Muzarabani. Rio Tinto High and Nyangwene Primary schools were the hardest hit. Roofs of seven classroom blocks were blown off while teachers' houses were extensively damaged.