Regular floods devastate home owners
Ward councillor Leon Garbade said he will document all affected houses and submit a full report to Ray Nkonyeni Municipality.
Some residents of Umtentweni and Albersville are living in fear of one day waking up and finding themselves without homes due to flooding.
A recent heavy downpour flooded their houses, and according to the owners, it happens every time it rains and has made life difficult for them.
An Umtentweni resident, Lynn Dee van Eeden (60), has been living in the area for about 25 years, and every year has to face the same problem and receives no help from authorities.
She added that the main problem is a municipal stormwater drain.
“I can’t even count how many times I have been flooded despite having a stormwater drain near my home. I have spoken to numerous people. I just have to be alert if something happens overnight. I woke up at about 04:15 this morning (last Friday), trying to stop water from entering the house,” said Van Eeden.
Another Umtentweni resident, Neil Thomas, whose house was also flooded, said the stormwater drains are not cleaned and some are blocked.
He said when it’s about to start to rain, he looks at the weather forecast before he goes to bed and sets an alarm. “For the past five or six years, I have been flooded. My house looks like I am in a war. I have placed sandbags around my property to try to prevent the water from entering my house,” said Thomas.
Justin Naidoo (64) from Palmview in Albersville faces a similar problem. “The water gets inside the toilet and floods all the rooms. I woke up at about 03:30 and found that I had been flooded,” said Naidoo.
Ward councillor Leon Garbade said he will document all affected houses and submit a full report to Ray Nkonyeni Municipality.
“We need to unblock the stormwater drains. Some of these houses have been sitting with these problems since 2016. All we do is talk about it; we need action,” said Garbade.
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