‘River’ from heavy downpour leaves destruction in Mogale City
South African Weather Service forecaster Venetia Phakula says warm weather conditions with rain is expected with not much rain in sight.
A electricity pylon is seen leaning over on 29 December 2020, along President Fouche Drive in Northwold, Randburg, after it was damaged in a storm last Monday. Picture: Michel Bega
Flash floods left a path of destruction in the West of Johannesburg with flooded houses, broken barrier walls, missing palisade fences, and uprooted trees.
On Saturday, a heavy downpour left residents in Lenasia and Krugersdorp almost washed away as the storm passed through Gauteng.
Robert Mulaudzi, spokesperson for the City of Johannesburg Emergency Management Service, said they responded to a couple of houses that were flooded in Lenasia and Protea Glen.
A number of walls and fences collapsed, he said.
“We had our water risk unit on site assisting households draining the waste.”
Mulaudzi urged the residents in low lying areas to avoid the water streams to help avoid incidents where children drown.
Krugersdorp residents said they believed they had more than 120mm rain in a short time.
At around 8pm, resident Gerda de Clerk received a satellite image from a friend, Ian Buck, indicting a storm on its way. De Clerk said she initially thought the storm had missed them but at about 10pm she was woken up by the heavy rain.
De Clerk went to check on the “river” that formed outside when she noticed the pump house was almost submerged by the water and a tree stump washed up in the driveway.
“The bottom part of my palisade fence was also missing.”
“By 5am I was up again and went to the river. The water was still level with the bridge, which consists of seven concrete pipes.”
De Clerk said they found pieces of her missing palisade fence up to 50m away on her neighbour’s plot.
Local ward councillors helped De Clerk get permission from Mogale City to fill up the massive holes caused by the floods with her neighbour’s earth moving machine.
De Clerk explained a bridge was blocked due to the massive volume of water in a short time, accompanied by lots of debris, sand, pieces of concrete, trees. The blockage of the pipes caused the water to flood the surrounding properties.
South African Weather Service forecaster Venetia Phakula said warm weather conditions with rain was expected with not much rain in sight.
“There is a 30% chance of rain for the next few days with an increased possibility of 60% rainfall on Thursday and Friday,” Phakula said.
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