WARNING: More heavy rain and possible hail predicted for today
Heavy rain and hail is expected from around 2pm to 11pm
RESIDENTS are warned to take necessary precautions as the South African Weather Service has issued a watch for severe thunder storms in Gauteng today. Heavy rain and hail are expected from around 2pm to 11pm.
⚠️ ALERT: The SA Weather Service has issued a watch for severe T-storms in Gauteng on Thursday. HEAVY RAIN & HAIL possible from 2pm-11pm.
— Gauteng Weather (@tWeatherSA) November 10, 2016
Four people were killed during the disastrous floods on Wednesday, which left the City of Ekurhuleni on high alert.
The thunderstorms, which started at around 3pm yesterday, lasted for about three hours, leaving a trail of disaster in various parts of Ekurhuleni.
“This is a very sad situation. It is extremely sad that so many lives were lost as a result of the heavy rain. Our sincere condolences go to their families,” said Ekurhuleni mayor, Clr Mzwandile Masina, adding that it was also regrettable that so many people lost their belongings.
The rain started in the southern parts of the city moving north. The city’s call centre started receiving frantic calls from members of the public and immediately dispatched district managers to monitor the situation.
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“At about 6pm we received a high rate of distress calls with members of the public reporting incidents of flooding and possible drownings,” mayoral spokesman, Zweli Dlamini, explained. “We then sent out teams to hot spot areas for rescue missions. Among the areas that were mainly affected were Linksfield, Edenvale, Tembisa, Benoni, Wattville and Boksburg.
A man drowned in Ravensklip in Boksburg, a woman was killed when a truck plunged into stationery vehicles at the Linksfield interchange, the same area where a body of a man was found by emergency services when rescuing trapped motorists. The fourth individual was struck by lightning at Sethokga Hostel in Tembisa.
“We also provided emergency relief to 105 people who were displaced when their informal structures were flooded in the Makause area. However, they refused temporary accommodation in fear of losing their belongings which remained trapped in their structures,” Dlamini said, adding that railway tracks were also washed away at Ravensklip in Boksburg.
The City, in collaboration with the Gauteng Provincial Government, has set up a joint operation centre in Bedfordview and emergency services teams remain on high alert.
Another area that is posing a major threat to residents of Knights and Makause areas is a tailing dam which started overflowing due to flooding. A technical team, made up of Ekurhuleni, Gauteng Provincial Government, the departments of water and mining resources had gone out to assess the situation and determine possible intervention.
Meanwhile, mopping up of flooded areas continues.
