South Africa’s Week of Wild Weather – The Pics & Videos You May Have Missed

For those like Tyron Cameron – whose video of missing out on the tornado in his hometown of Benoni while he’s in the UK went viral – here are some of the videos and photos you may have missed in the last week of wild weather in South Africa…

First came the snow which covered the Drakensberg and other parts of the country:

See SAPeople’s winter wonderland collection of snow photos here.

Also popular on social media were these two pictures:

The first is from Lucie Wessels in Van Reenens Pass. She said: “Hier gaan ons n paar dae sit dink ek.” (I think we’re going to sit here for a few days!)

The second was uploaded to Facebook by Jo-Anne Halse Poustie: “This is too beautiful not to share… snow in the Drakensberg… wow we live in a beautiful country.”

And this video summed up much of SA’s winter wonderland:

Then there were the floods – first in Durban and other parts of KwaZulu-Natal before hitting other regions.

Much of what was shared showed harrowing scenes of damage and destruction:

But this photo captured the appreciation South Africans felt for the rain they had prayed for, which finally came…

iSimangaliso Wetland Park uploaded the picture – of water pumping down the uMkhuze River – saying: “This may seem an ordinary everyday photo to the casual observer. But to us at iSimangaliso, it is a miraculous sight worthy of great celebration!… For this most drought-stricken part of our Park, and the thousands of animals protected there, this water is a life saver!”

The wild weather and storms also made for incredible photo opportunities like this scene above that photographer Rob Tarr captured at Kalk Bay Harbour in the Western Cape (see more photos of the massive waves at Kalk Bay).

And then there were the Tornados in South Africa…

See the first tornado racing past Magaliesberg.

The second tornado – which wreaked havoc in Tembisa – resulted in this News24 post going viral after Intelligence Bureau SA page shared it: “Interesting choice of words from the mall’s spokesperson!!! Sometimes you just have to laugh and call it as it is!”

The destruction itself wasn’t however a laughing matter…

WATCH Video: A trail of destruction: Tornado-hit Tembisa picks up the pieces:

Uploaded by TimesLive: “Residents of Tembisa in the East Rand are picking up the pieces in the wake of the devastating tornado that ripped through the area on Tuesday.”

The Tornado – uploaded by Anthony Glass

And for the weather in the week ahead? South African cartoonist Zapiro has nailed it with a cartoon titled “Hlaudi with a chance of Tsunamis”!

If you missed it – here’s Tyron Cameron’s classic video on missing out on the tornado in Benoni!