23 Oct 2016

A heavy hail storm swept through some parts of Gaborone Friday morning (October 21) leaving students and staff at Boswa Primary School and St Joseph’s College south of the capital city on edge.

At Boswa Primary School, where students had to be returned home, the storm ripped and uplifted roofing at leaving a mess of corrugated iron all over the school yard with some hanging messily from tree tops.

The phenomenon also led to trees around the school compound being felled wildly by flying rooftops which also affected neighboring residential areas.

One of the most affected school buildings was the library where the roof was entirely blown up leaving books exposed to the accompanying down pours.

At St Joseph’s College in Kgale, deputy schol head Mr Herbert Setume told BOPA that the heavy hail storm affected some of the classrooms, school fence, teachers’ quarters and the library where books were extensively damaged.

Mr Setume said a section of the road to his school was closed to traffic because it was impassable, adding that some of the teachers were trapped inside their houses as piles of hail had blocked their doors.

He said the disaster came at a wrong time when students were writing examinations, adding that it was going to affect their studies particularly that the school library was unusable.

The extent of the damage caused by the storm was still not known as assessment by relevant authorities was yet to be conducted. ENDS