Several homes, a school, and roads were destroyed by a hailstorm in Nkayi District last week.
Government officials are struggling to assess the extent of the damage caused by heavy rains that began on Wednesday due to inaccessibility and lack of telephone coverage.
Matabeleland North Provincial Affairs minister Richard Moyo told VicFallsLive that the rains affected wards 1, 2, 13 and 14 in villages such as Tsheli, Sobunyonyo, Gampinya and Sovondo. Said Moyo:
The report is true as I have just spoken to Nkayi officials, but the challenge is that there is no (telephone) network (coverage) for us to contact our government representatives on the ground and the road is also inaccessible.
Once the place is reachable, we will give the status of families who lost their homes.
The hailstorm reportedly caused the collapse of a classroom block at Jabulisa Secondary School.
The storm also killed livestock such as goats, sheep and poultry.
Moyo advised affected villagers to find safe places to live until they receive help from the Government. He said:
For now, we would like to advise them to stay indoors until we find a way to access them.
We are still not sure about the extent of the damage, but soon we will be there to assist those families.
Meanwhile, Civil Protection Unit acting director Nathan Nkomo said he was not aware of the destruction of infrastructure in Nkayi.