STORM LEAVES 7-HOUR POWER BLACKOUT

SITEKI – As a result of the storm which hit the country this past Saturday, some areas around the Lubombo region experienced a seven-hour power outage.
At Mhlume and surrounding areas, the storm uprooted trees and further destroyed electric poles resulting in some electric cables falling.

This caused a seven-hour power outage around Mhlume and surrounding areas such as Tambankhulu, Simunye, Vuvulane and Lomahasha.
From 9pm on Saturday until the early hours of Sunday there was no power in most areas around the region.
Swaziland Electricity Company (SEC) Corporate Communications Officer Khaya Mavuso explained that the storm destroyed the 66 KV lines which transmit power from the substations to the different areas.

“The storms destroyed the main lines which supply power to most areas of the region, hence the power outage. But we managed to work tirelessly and by yesterday morning we had repaired most of the destroyed cables,”Mavuso said before apologising to the public.
“We would like to inform our valued customers in the Lubombo region that power outages occurred in almost all the parts of the country, and we would like to urge those who still do not have power at their homesteads not to hesitate to contact us,” he said.

Mavuso further warned members of the public against trying to  remove electric cables they find on the ground.
Meanwhile, apart from causing power outage the storm destroyed houses around most areas of the region. At Vuvulane, about 30 people were reportedly left homeless after their houses were blown away by the storm.

Mhlume Member of Parliament (MP) Sifiso Magagula said he visited some of the affected homesteads yesterday morning.
“What is comforting is that there were no casualties even though the houses were destroyed,” Magagula said.
Under the Matsanjeni North constituency, only two homesteads were reported to have had their roofs blown away by the heavy winds.

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