Hailstorm affects over 1,000 villagers, destroys gardens, homes

By ELIAS LARI
MORE than 1,000 people from two villages at Ogulbeng in Mt Hagen have been affected by hailstorm and strong winds which hit on Wednesday.
Most had their food gardens damaged including four houses and an AOG church building.
Also destroyed were power poles which affected electricity after strong winds swept through the two villages at around 5pm.
It lasted for an hour.
The people affected are from the Yamka Poimb clan from Karalg village and the Jika Delimb clan of Aplegum village.
Villagers said it was the second time they experienced such weather. They experienced a similar occurrence in 2008.
Jika Delimb clansman Paul Blacky Kewa said the level of the ice in some areas reached 60cm.
He said drains and creeks in the area flooded with water reaching their homes.
Kewa said most of the villagers were farmers who made a living off the land and the damage done by the hailstorm would take them months to recover from.
“How can we send our children to school as we depend on the cash crops such as sweet potatoes, cabbage, corn and other crops that we sell,” he said.
“This is one of the worst disasters we have experienced in Hagen.”
He called on the provincial disaster office to attend to the affected areas.