Residents of Makhado (Louis Trichardt) woke to scenes of destruction on Wednesday morning, following a violent wind storm, accompanied by thundershowers on Tuesday evening.

Although not of the same magnitude as Hurricane Sandy which hit America’s eastern seaboard this week, the storm was quickly dubbed Hurricane Sandy Lite.

The storm caused a massive power outage in town, and by late Wednesday morning, the Makhado Municipality was still struggling to restore the power supply to many parts of town.

The storm left a path of devastation in its wake, uprooting trees, blowing off rooftops and causing walls to collapse. Many streets were also left almost inaccessible as a result of debris. The local office of the Department of Public Works was one of the hardest hit, with roofs blown off and a security guard's house destroyed.

At Laat Lente and Herfsakker, a huge tree collapsed in the centre of the housing complex, barely missing some houses. Fortunately, nobody was injured.

According to Soutpansberg Town Watch chairperson Mr Dirk Meissenheimer, they spent much of Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning helping to clear up driveways to allow residents to go to work.

Along the N1, signboards were uprooted, while in Akasia Street, a live municipal power cable dangled dangerously in the street in front of one house. The Methodist Church in Munnik Street was not spared either, with a tree collapsing on the fence, taking with it part of the brick wall. In Eltivillas, the Christian Tabernacle of Hope also lost part of its roof to the storm.

The storm caused major damage to crops in the Levubu area, with reports of damage also coming in from as far afield as Musina.