Tag Archives: hail

Hail in the vale

On the 20th of October  at 14h30,  Johannesburg time, my house was hit by hail the size of tennis balls and some up to the size of  a Cricket ball, breaking most of my north facing windows  ( about 15 in total ) and breaking straight through my roof tiles and my roofing boards in some places, luckily no one was hurt, and my cars were under cover so they were not damaged.

Firstly I must mention that i was shocked at how powerful the hail was, and how vulnerable the roof is , even on a relatively strong  building, it made me very aware of how fragile houses actually are, South African houses are not designed for extreme weather as it isn’t something we get very often. our windows are thin and not safety glass, our roofs are tiled but the tiles are not as strong as you would believe. and the impact of hail is much more dramatic then one would expect.

Fortunately being prepared for natural disasters is something I try to do and I had about 40 spare roof tiles that the previous owner left behind when he moved out ( he was also the builder of large sections of the house), so my friends and I climbed on the roof and fixed the majority of broken or cracked tiles. ( once again thanks for your help, I hope you enjoyed the potjie )

This was a great opportunity to see who I can rely on in an emergency, and it was interesting to see how people react to needing to help others, or themselves.

Link to pics of the hail.