Care home residents evacuated after severe Newcastle storm
Emergency crews worked to safeguard frail and vulnerable residents as flash floods hit Newcastle. Read more here:
Residents from the La Gratitude Old Age Home and Cripple Care facility had to be evacuated after the complexes were flooded in the vicious rain and hail storm that struck Newcastle on Sunday afternoon.
Craig Botha of KwaZulu Private Ambulance Service described the scene as chaotic, with frail and vulnerable residents having to be rescued from their rooms amid rising flood waters.
“A multi-disciplinary team responded to numerous distress calls at about 5pm.
Emergency personnel were confronted with a complex and chaotic situation.
“Initial assessments revealed serious roof damage in the frail care wings, with water streaming into residential rooms. Simultaneously, ground-floor units at both facilities were experiencing significant flooding, with water levels creating a substantial risk to the elderly and physically disabled residents,” Botha said.
Paramedics and specialised rescue technicians immediately launched a high-priority, coordinated evacuation and rescue effort.
“The primary objective became the safe and rapid relocation of frail residents from the damaged and flooded wings to secure dry sections of the facilities.
“The relentless rainfall and the complexity of moving medically vulnerable patients through damaged corridors and floodwaters elevated the risk profile of the operation.”
Johan Pieters of the Newcastle Growth Coalition remarked that a ‘Sunday evening will never be the same for the community of Newcastle after the devastating storm of November 9.”
Pieters said the storm caused millions of Rands in damage to both the business and residential sectors.
“But as we know, the community of Newcastle, everyone stood together and assisted the SAPS, Traffic, Fire Brigade and other organisations to ensure that affected residents received help.”
He continued: “We salute every person, organisation and business that stepped in last night to help where they could.
“My prayers and best wishes go out to each and every business and members of the Newcastle community affected by the storm,” he concluded.
Photo: Newcastle Advertiser
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