NELSPRUIT – Rain continues to pour down in the Lowveld and dams in the area are more than 100 per cent full.
More than 50 millimetres fell in Mpumalanga’s capital on Sunday night alone. Police divers have had to rescue several people who were trapped by flooding rivers and retrieve bodies of those who were not fortunate enough to survive (see report elsewhere).
MEC for cooperative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) Mr Simon Skhosana has warned communities to avoid flooded rivers, dams, streams and bridges. “The information gathered by our disaster management teams dispatched on the ground indicates that rivers and dams are overflowing. Bridges connecting villages are submerged. We call upon our people not to take risks by crossing them,” warned Skhosana.
He has appealed to municipalities to activate their joint-operation centres to coordinate disaster-management activities for the safety of the public. Facilities, such as community halls, church buildings and schools have been identified as part of an evacuation plan.
Although villages in the Nkomazi Municipality have been hit the hardest, the MEC has appealed to communities elsewhere in Mpumalanga to be on high alert. He has further appealed to motorists to drive carefully as roads are slippery. “The rain has caused damage to our roads. This has resulted in the closure of some of them. On the N4 between Barberton and Kaapmuiden, rocks are falling onto the highway. The road between Komatipoort and Mananga has now been cleared after a temporary closure. We appeal to drivers to be caution when using all the roads due to the bad weather conditions.”
The water supply to some villages in Nkomazi may be interrupted due to the flow into the pumps. “We appeal to our communities to be patient as the problem is being attended to by our technicians,” Skhosana added.
Yesterday the department of water affairs’ Groblersdal area office released statistics on dam levels and rainfall measured in its catchment areas. The Blyde Dam is currently 101,2 per cent full after having received 204,3 millimetres of rain in one week. Vygeboom Dam is 100,9 per cent full after 214,5 milimetres has fallen here since last Monday; Witklip is 100,8 per cent full after 170 millimetres has been measured here and Kwena dam is 100,7 per cent full after having received 108 millimetres of rain. At Da Gama Dam, 342 millimetres has been recorded and the dam is 100,2 per cent full.
Only 101,2 millimetres was measured at Blyde Dam during this week last year; no rain fell in the Vygeboom area and Witklip also received none. At Kwena only 56,9 millimetres was recorded during this same week last year and Da Gama, only nine. The South African Weather Service has predicted rain for the rest of the week.
Cogta said communities could phone the disaster toll-free number for emergencies on 0800-202-507.
