Heavy rains over the weekend have damaged Simwege Primary School in Katjinakatji Village, Kavango West. The makeshift school in Mankumpi Constituency serves 58 grade one and two learners. Classrooms and learning materials were destroyed, and the village lost electricity.

A teacher from Katjinakatji Combined School said the power outage has left around 400 hostel learners without water, as the school relies on electricity for pumping.

Kavango West's Director of Education, Pontianus Musore, said the ministry has provided tents to ensure classes continue while seeking better alternatives.

Beyond the school, strong winds uprooted trees, brought down electricity lines, and damaged over 50 homesteads.

Residents described the devastation:

Maria Tjitoma, who lives with her grandchildren, said everything was destroyed, including trees. "I don't know how to help my family. If this had happened at night, we could have lost lives."

Johana Nepempa said her home, her sister’s, mother’s, and uncle’s houses were damaged. "There is no one to help us. It's really sad."

Sarafine Hikerwa is now sharing her only intact house with her children. "Everything is damaged. We can’t even find some of the roof sheets."

Bertha Sindano said she, an elderly man, and her mother were home when the storm hit. "We cried and prayed. Our food was destroyed, and we slept hungry."

Moses Sindano said he had never seen such weather in Katjinakatji. "What we saw yesterday was shocking."