Heavy rain wreak havoc in South

HEAVY downpours accompanied by hail and strong winds caused havoc in the southern parts of the country this week.

Houses’ roofs were ripped off and livestock were killed by heavy downpours in the vicinity of Ariamsvlei village, about 110 kilometres east of Karasburg. At the commercial farm Charlieputz, some 16 kilometres south of Ariamsvlei, 100 millimetres of rain was measured yesterday.A supervisor at the farm, Maria Andreas, estimated the losses caused by rain at N$10 000.Andreas said 14 of her livestock were killed while property at the farm was also damaged.She said the last heavy rainfall reported in the area was in 1974.”I’m very happy about the downpours,” Andreas said.According to Andreas, the rain lasted for about an hour after it began at 16h00 yesterday.Another farmer, Erik Strauss, said he suffered losses of close to N$26 000.”This is just a preliminary estimate since I’m not able to visit the camps because of flowing river streams,” he said.Residents at Ariamsvlei were also left in the dark because of a power outage as a result of the rain.The railway line to South Africa was washed away and has been closed since Sunday.At the commercial farm Charlieputz, some 16 kilometres south of Ariamsvlei, 100 millimetres of rain was measured yesterday.A supervisor at the farm, Maria Andreas, estimated the losses caused by rain at N$10 000.Andreas said 14 of her livestock were killed while property at the farm was also damaged. She said the last heavy rainfall reported in the area was in 1974.”I’m very happy about the downpours,” Andreas said.According to Andreas, the rain lasted for about an hour after it began at 16h00 yesterday.Another farmer, Erik Strauss, said he suffered losses of close to N$26 000.”This is just a preliminary estimate since I’m not able to visit the camps because of flowing river streams,” he said.Residents at Ariamsvlei were also left in the dark because of a power outage as a result of the rain.The railway line to South Africa was washed away and has been closed since Sunday.