WATCH | Northern KZN battered by 'tornado-like' storm

A severe thunderstorm accompanied by strong wind and hail ripped through Empangeni and other areas in northern KwaZulu-Natal on Monday, leaving one person dead, several injured and widespread damage.

The uMhlathuze municipality said on Tuesday the storm caused structural damage, road closures and displacement of residents whose homes were hit.

Apart from households, municipal buildings such as the Empangeni civic centre and fire station, Richards Bay airport, business premises and hospitals were also affected.

“Disaster response teams are on the ground cutting and removing trees,” it said.

Motorists have been warned to drive with caution because of trees strewn across roads.

An assessment of the damage will be done on Tuesday.

The municipality said one person was killed at Five Ways Mall in Empangeni, while two were injured.

“We have areas such as eSigisi, eMacekane, eNseleni, eMhlanga that have been affected, where roofs were blown away.

“Reports are still coming in. However, also in eMhlanga, two injuries were reported. We have no-one in our halls — those whose houses were affected opted seeking shelter from their neighbours.”

Eskom said the storm caused power outages in eNseleni, Kwambonambi, Mtubatuba, Hluhluwe and Mkuze.

“Restoration may take long due to access problems. Customers are urged to treat all installations as live.”

Residents described the storm on social media platforms as “tornado-like”.

One said: “Hectic storm that was. Enough lightning to help Eskom out for five years.”

Another said: “I'm sure it was a tornado as the sky looked awful and many trees uprooted.”

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