EXTREME WEATHER ANOMALIES: Summer Hailstorm Batters Johannesburg Area In South Africa, Destroys Shopping Mall Roof - Streets Covered With UNSEASONABLE Layer Of Snow And Hailstones, The Size Of Golf Balls! [PHOTOS]

@ emmanuelmarikite / Instagram

January 10, 2016 - JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - A violent hailstorm has wreaked havoc in Johannesburg, South Africa, causing the roof of a shopping mall to collapse and local residents to take shelter in their homes.

It’s summer in South Africa, but dark clouds gathered over the African nation’s largest city at around 3pm on Saturday, covering the streets with an unseasonable layer of snow and hailstones the size of golf balls.

Emergency services were called to the Key West Shopping Center in a town west of Johannesburg after the ceiling began to sag and disintegrate, the local Krugersdorp News reported.

Amazingly, nobody was killed, but three people were injured.

Pictures show how steel beams and debris caved in under the weight of heavy rain, the worst to hit the area in years.

A spokesperson for emergency service Netcare 911 told South Africa’s eNCA: “Netcare 911 paramedics managed to stabilize three people that have sustained serious injuries on scene.

“They’ve all been taken to hospital for further medical care.”

Crazy hail storm, lost a few windows and roof tiles. #Krugersdorp #Hail
Twitter:  Nicole de Metz

@HEEL_Darewolf and @KehliJ big moerse hail hitted parts of Johannesburg, Roodepoort and Krugersdorp
Twitter: 2016_SA_200

The HUB shop collapsed at keywest mall Krugersdorp... Really bad.. #heavyrains
Twitter: TSWELOPELE MATHIBELA

Hail in Krugersdorp last night. West of Johannesburg. South Africa
Twitter: Michael Hartley

Krugersdorp after the hail. Manu birds killed and injured. Rescuing whay I can. Extreme weather tightens its grip.
Twitter: Anthony Turton

MT @jnmet: Some rain in E #SouthAfrica Sunday; more rain likely across the maize triangle this week.
Twitter: AccuWeather.com 

Johannesburg has experienced record high temperatures in the past week, forcing the South African Weather Service to issue a number heat and “severe thunderstorm” warnings.

“It appears that some cooler and more humid air started to push in from the south and east on Saturday, likely triggering these thunderstorms,” meteorologist Nick Wiltgen explained on Weather.com.

“Weather balloon data from Pretoria a few hours before the hailstorm showed an obvious intrusion of cold dry air in the upper atmosphere, a factor that strongly favors damaging hail when overall conditions are favorable for thunderstorm development.”

More thunderstorms and heavy downpours are predicted. - RT.

DELUGE: Heavy Rain Causes Flooding In Johannesburg, South Africa - Numerous Vehicular Collisions Reported!

MV under water by BP garage on O'Reilly Merry Street, Benoni

December 18, 2015 - SOUTH AFRICA - Heavy rain has caused flooding in the Benoni area, on Johannesburg's East Rand on Thursday, paramedics said.

Numerous collisions were reported, most of them minor, because of the rain and flooding, ER24 said.

No injuries were reported.

Bridge over troubled waters. Voortrekker road On N12 to Benoni. © Pauli Van Wyk

The N12 highway was affected as well as the Snake Road off-ramp and O'Reilly Merry Street.

Heavy rains caused flooding on the N12 in Benoni. Fortunately no-one was injured. pic.twitter.com/PbdrYOB7uM

— ER24 EMS (Pty) Ltd (@ER24EMS) December 17, 2015

- News24.

FIRE IN THE SKY: Green Meteor Fireball Filmed Over Cape Town, South Africa - Seen By Hundreds!

November 30, 2015 - CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA - What was this mysterious green light striking the sky of South Africa on November 28, 2015?

The strange green light was spotted by hundreds of baffled residents from Durban, Cape Town and Johannesburg...

seems legit or its vfx 50/50 "@LiveMagSA WHAT WAS THAT? Anyone else see that green light flying over Soweto? #UFOSA pic.twitter.com/pZyl60dj7L"

— PhetogoTshepoMahasha (@PTMahasha) November 30, 2015

Hundreds of people reported through social networks a strange green light in the sky over Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg at around 11pm on November 28, 2015.

Many photographed and recorded the spectacular phenomenon.


WATCH: Fireball or UFO over South Africa.

The strange green light remained static for a few seconds, and then started moving at high speed before disappearing.

So what was this mysterious light?

I would go for a green meteor/ fireball disintegrating. - Strange Sounds.

PLANETARY TREMORS: 2.4 Magnitude Earthquake Causes Underground Fire In South Africa Gold Mine - Eight Miners Killed; One Worker Still Missing!

February 06, 2014 - SOUTH AFRICA - Eight gold miners in South Africa died after a magnitude-2.4 earthquake triggered an underground fire, and rescue teams operating deep below the surface were searching for a ninth missing miner, a mining company said Thursday.

Miners of the Harmony Gold's Doornkop mine mourn their colleagues
who died in a mining accident on February 6, 2014.

Smoke and a rockfall had hampered searchers struggling to find any survivors after fire broke out 1.7 kilometres underground at the Doornkop mine around 6 p.m. Tuesday, the Harmony company said in a statement. The mine is 30 kilometres west of Johannesburg.

On Wednesday morning, rescue teams located eight other miners who had sought refuge from the fire and brought all of them to the surface within several hours. On Thursday morning, Harmony announced the discovery of eight bodies.

The National Union of Mineworkers, a major labour group, said the rockfall had ruptured electrical cables, triggering the fire, and that water and ventilation pipes were also damaged. It called for an urgent investigation.

"Our members' lives must come first. The health and safety measures must be applied," said Livhuwani Mammburu, a union spokesman. "There is technology available to actively monitor seismicity underground. We wonder if Harmony has got that technology."

James Duncan, a Harmony spokesman, said the company has monitoring equipment.

"Seismicity is not an exact science," Duncan said. "The challenge is to stay abreast of current technology, make sure you have the best that is available and continue to strive for improvement."

South Africa has some of the deepest mines in the world, raising concern about the safety of workers who could be more vulnerable to tremors and other dangers. The Doornkop mine shaft extends about two kilometres below ground. Harmony's deepest gold mines go to twice that depth, Duncan said.

South Africa's ministry of mineral resources said its chief mine inspector visited the Doornkop mine on Wednesday.

This photo file taken Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2013, shows a view of the Doornkop Gold Mine,
about 30kms west of Johannesburg, South Africa. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe-file)

Minister Susan Shabangu said this week -- just before learning of the fatal fire -- that miners' health and safety had improved significantly since a panel, formed after the end of white minority rule in 1994, found poor safety standards and inadequate enforcement of existing laws. The parliament will soon consider amendments that strengthen the country's mine health and safety laws, Shabangu said at an international mining conference in Cape Town.

More than 54,000 miners in South Africa have died in accidents since reporting began in 1904, and many more have died from exposure to hazardous dust, gas and fumes, the ministry says on its website. The Chamber of Mines, an industry group, said there were 112 deaths in South African mine operations in 2012, a 9 per cent reduction over the previous year.

The mining industry in South Africa, a pillar of the economy, is struggling with increasing costs and labour unrest.

Workers have been on strike for two weeks in the country's platinum-mining sector, amid sporadic reports of clashes pitting protesters against mine security and police. In 2012, police shot and killed several dozen miners during labour unrest at a Lonmin platinum mine. - CNN.

MASS UFO SIGHTINGS: The Symbols of an Alien Sky, Man-Made or Natural Phenomena - The Latest UFO Sightings And Aerial Anomalies Around the World?

January 06, 2013 - WORLDWIDE UFOs - Here are several of the latest unidentified flying objects (UFOs) seen recently across the globe.

Texas, United States - 30th of December, 2012.

Cardwell, Queensland, Australia - 2nd of January, 2013.

Melbourne, Australia - 4th of January, 2013.

The Sun - 5th of January, 2013.

Johannesburg, South Africa - 5th of January, 2013.

International Space Station - 1st of January, 2013.

MASS UFO SIGHTINGS: Orange Orbs Light Formation Cause UFO Buzz In South Africa?!

January 04, 2013 - SOUTH AFRICA - Reports of orange unidentified flying objects (UFOs) seen over parts of Centurion on Monday night have been flooding into the Pretoria News.  While celebrating the start of the new year and looking to the night sky, some city residents did not see fireworks but a display of another kind.  Centurion resident Louise Schoeman said she saw the first orange orbs at about 8pm, followed by dozens more through the course of the evening.

"The lights appeared in formations of two or three at a time. They glowed orange but did not twinkle or flash," she said.  "They appeared to be moving quite quickly, from the north, east and west, and would travel for a few minutes and then disappear. They were not conventional aircraft, they moved in a linear fashion and were definitely not fireworks.  "We watched one that stopped in mid-air, turned white and appeared to stay in the same spot for approximately an hour. It did not twinkle like a star. The object was gone when we looked again at 1am."  Another city resident asked: "Did the Mayans perhaps get the date wrong?" 

Twitter and Facebook were abuzz with reports of similar sightings locally - including Johannesburg and Durban - and internationally.  - UFO sighting in Elk Grove, California, on January 1, 2013 - four red-orange lights - Akashar Kentaloon  - Orange UFOs over New Port Richey, Florida. Burning orange pulsating lights moving erratically, hovering, disappearing - ufostalker.com  - happy new years everyone seen #orangelights in the sky tonight kinda freaky - Anna Peters  - Did anyone else see three consecutive orange lights in the sky? Flying too high to be planes or helicopters. Woah. Insane. - Rachael Cantu  - These 5 orange lights directly up in the sky moving around and shining then dissapearing and yes i am sober! - nuuch'  Is there a logical explanation? Were they simply Chinese lanterns or flares? Or perhaps the result of one too many festive beverages?  You be the judge. Please let us know if you saw this strange phenomenon. - IOL News.

DELUGE: All-out Rescue in Flood-Stricken Limpopo, South Africa - Torrential Rains Submerged Houses; Washed Away Bridge; and Made Roads Impassable! UPDATE: 4 Dead in Mozambique; Over 4,000 Homeless!

Almost 150 people were plucked from the roofs of their submerged houses and others from trees where they'd been trapped after torrential rain in the Hoedspuit area in Limpopo, where up to 300mm of rainfall was measured.

The air force, police, emergency services and private helicopters had been involved in the rescue. Two Oryx helicopters had been used to rescue 60 pupils who'd been trapped at two schools in the Buckbuckridge area, said air force spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Piet Paxton. "The bridge between the air force base and the town has been washed away, and several roads are impassable," air force Paxton said. "There is a lot of water and there are a lot of areas flooded after heavy rainfalls over the past two days, but especially yesterday. "We then embarked on search and rescue operations with helicopters and we rescued people from either islands or treetops, or the roofs of houses and we evacuated them to safety to the air force base in Hoedspruit."


Poor light had grounded the choppers, but he said the rescue operation would resume at first light on Thursday. The SA Weather Service (Weather SA) said  that heavy rainfalls will ease on Thursday in Limpopo. Weather SA's Elizabeth Webster told News24 that there was a 60% chance of rain for Limpopo on Thursday and it was "unlikely" that the heavy rains would persist. Earlier in the day, the Kruger Park issued an urgent warning that gates and roads have been closed as a result of rainfall. "The most important thing is to avoid all gravel roads in the Kruger National Park... We have issued a statement this morning to warn people about the water situation. Crocodile Bridge is closed because the bridge is overflowing.


"We have closed Phalaborwa Gate as well, and bridges leading to Letaba and Mopani camps are overflowing at this stage." Visitors to the park should contact the public relations office to ask about the condition of the roads they intended using. In Mpumalanga, provincial community safety department spokesperson Joseph Mabuza said drivers should be extremely careful. "We received reports that some of the bridges have been affected by rains, so we request all road users to be cautious when using the roads. "We have closed Phalaborwa Gate as well, and bridges leading to Letaba and Mopani camps are overflowing at this stage." Visitors to the park should contact the public relations office to ask about the condition of the roads they intended using. In Mpumalanga, provincial community safety department spokesperson Joseph Mabuza said drivers should be extremely careful. "We received reports that some of the bridges have been affected by rains, so we request all road users to be cautious when using the roads. - News 24.

Four people have died and more than 4,000 others are without shelter after torrential rains in Mozambique.

Three days of storms and high winds have hit water and power supplies and destroyed farm animals and cash crops. The storms have also led neighbouring South Africa to close its famous Kruger National Park, where helicopters have been used to evacuate tourists. Meteorologists warn a stronger weather system is approaching Mozambique, where flooding in 2000 left 700 people dead. It was the worst flooding in Mozambique's living memory and half a million people were also made homeless. The worst affected areas are in the southern Gaza and Maputo provinces, the national relief agency says. According to Dulce Chilundo of the Disaster Management Institute, tents and food are being sent to those who have lost their homes. Two of those who died were electrocuted, while the two others were killed when their homes collapsed - one after a tree hit the house, she told the BBC.


The capital, Maputo, is also affected by the heavy rains with drivers having to manoeuvre through water of up to a metre in some areas, the BBC's Jose Tembe reports from the city. Of the 4,000 people who have lost their homes, more than 1,200 are in the capital, where on Tuesday night at the height of the storm, many people were too scared to spend the night in their houses, he says. People who have not yet been assisted have resorted to climbing trees or sitting on the roofs of their houses to avoid being swept away by the flood waters, he says.


The floods have also destroyed more than 160 classrooms, four clinics and more than 600 hectares of farmland, the national disaster agency said. Our reporter says one of Mozambique's main crops, the cashew nut, has also been affected with more than 6,000 cashew tree destroyed. In some areas of Mozambique the water has begun to recede now that the high winds and rains have dissipated, our correspondent says. But meteorologist Sergio Buque said another low pressure system was heading towards the country which might bring heavier downpours. "We expect that the intensity may be greater than this one: We had category one winds of between 80 and 120km/h - the next one, if it develops as the models are showing us, could reach category two, when the winds are stronger," he told the BBC's Network Africa programme. - BBC.

NOTE: Thanks to Samora Eitaniel Ntsebeza for contributing to this post.

WEATHER ANOMALIES: Tornado Tears Up Duduza, South Africa!

Hundreds of people were left homeless when a tornado tore through the town of Duduza near Nigel, east of Johannesburg, in South Africa, on Sunday, paramedics said.

“A hundred and five individuals were injured,” said ER24 spokesperson Andre Visser. Several people were injured during the tornado, Ekurhuleni mayoral spokesperson Prince Hamnca said on Sunday night. “Some are still being treated but we will only be able to give proper information tomorrow (Monday). They (emergency services staff) are doing a head count,” he said. The R550 road in Nigel had been closed because of fallen trees. Gauteng Health MEC Ntombi Mekgwe and Ekurhuleni Mayor Mondli Gungubele were on the scene, said Hamnca. Earlier on Sunday, a nine-year-old boy was killed and 42 people injured in what paramedics said was a tornado in Ficksburg in the Free State. “It has killed one and left more than 1 000 houses destroyed,” said Netcare 911 spokesperson Chris Botha. Hundreds of people were left homeless. - IOL News.