Must we wait for the alarm?

JC ENGELBRECHT, the SABC 3 weather man, told us on Tuesday evening that it was 60% possible that we’d have rain on Wednesday. He wasn’t wrong, because on Wednesday night we had 140 drops per square metre (our unscientific estimate!). Today, Thursday, it’s overcast in Vryheid and again the chances of having rain are estimated …

October 17, 2013

1 minute read

Klipfontein Dam in 1983, prior to be filled by Cyclone Domonia in February 1984. The wall was designed to be raised to increase the dam's capacity.

JC ENGELBRECHT, the SABC 3 weather man, told us on Tuesday evening that it was 60% possible that we’d have rain on Wednesday. He wasn’t wrong, because on Wednesday night we had 140 drops per square metre (our unscientific estimate!). Today, Thursday, it’s overcast in Vryheid and again the chances of having rain are estimated at 60%, the same chances as forecast up to Sunday. We need it.
The spring rains have yet to materialise. Speaking to farmers in the area, they are getting very short of grazing. Some are already having to buy in bales of hay. For us in town, there is at this stage no cause for alarm.
But must we wait for the alarm bells to go off?
We have been saying this for years – raise the level of the Klipfontein Dam wall now! The late rains so far this spring simply illustrate, again, how precarious our water supply is.

At Caxton, every story is written by humans. We use AI only to perform quality checks - never to generate the news. Happy reading!

October 17, 2013

1 minute read