A FREAK storm roared through the Soesdyke-Linden Highway on Sunday uprooting utility poles and toppling and cracking trees in its path.
The occurrence happened even though the hydromet website had forecasted only scattered showers for Sunday.

At Splashmins, a Toyota motorcar was damaged as a utility pole crashed onto the windscreen and bonnet. With the aid of an electric saw, the damaged utility pole was cut at the base and removed from the bonnet of the vehicle.
Benabs were also damaged and overturned into the creek. The electrical wiring which ran through the water of the creek did not deter patrons from enjoying the water as children and adults continued to splash.
“This thing was like a small cyclone that lasted two minutes and just pass through the area quickly,” an eyewitness said.

Throughout the highway, trees and vegetation were damaged or uprooted as a result of the storm.
In an indication of the strength of the storm, vegetation in some parts faced one direction while scores of uprooted trees and shrubs lined the pathways.
Residents of the Soesdyke-Linden Highway explained that the storm is an annual phenomenon, but this is the first time it had passed through Splashmins.
Last August, another freak storm on the Soesdyke-Linden Highway flattened a house, toppled trees and ripped roofs off buildings, leaving residents, including some with young children, traumatised.