WATCH: Tornado causes havoc in Durban!

A MASSIVE tornado ripped through parts of Inanda near Durban, KZN on Tuesday, 27 June, leaving behind traces of destruction in the area. 

The tragic havoc struck just days before the much-anticipated Durban July event, which is set to take place this coming weekend.

KZN Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs spokeswoman, Nonala Ndlovu, said the heavy rainfall accompanied by strong winds caused significant damage in various parts of the province, with Inanda township being the most severely affected.

“Preliminary reports indicate that several homes have been damaged and some people have sustained injuries,” she said.

According to Ndlovu, the unfortunate incident across the province saw public infrastructure such as roads, electricity, and water suffering severe damage.

South African Weather Service forecaster, Thandiwe Gumede, confirmed that indeed this was a tornado and explained how this happened. 

"We do have a cut off low that is currently over the western parts of the country and usually ahead of the cut of laws, we have what we call upper air perturbations and those perturbations could have been the cause of the results of those storms we had on Tuesday, which resulted in strong winds and large amounts of rainfall in KZN. 

"Upper air perturbations are disturbances in the wind in the upper levels which then result in dynamic thunderstorms," said Gumede. 

She did, however, confirm that as the cut off low system moves east on Wednesday, 28 June and exit possibly by Thursday, 29 June, weather conditions will begin to clear in parts of KZN. 

"However, possible rain is still expected. This as wet conditions continue to persist in parts of the province," said Gumede. 

She said 60% chances of showers and thunder showers are expected over the south eastern parts of the province, while other parts of the province will see 30% chances or rain over the north eastern parts, which will not experience any rain. 

These wet conditions will also be witnessed on Thursday, 29 June. 

"Something to note for Wednesday is that we still have an alert for disruptive rain over the south eastern parts. It is a yellow level two alert and Thursday will see strong winds over the interior that will be areas like Ladysmith and Newcastle coming through to the northern interior areas like Dandi," said Gumede. 

Clear skies are expected to enter on Friday, 30 June. 

As the heavy rains continue in other parts of the province, Ndlovu urged all communities to exercise extra caution.

"It is crucial to closely monitor water levels and promptly relocate to safer areas if any potential danger is foreseen. We will continue to closely monitor the situation in Inanda and the surrounding areas in order to restore normalcy and provide the necessary support," she said.