“Water, water, everywhere, but not a drop to drink” has been the cry of many folk here on the South Coast, echoing the famous words from the Rime of the Ancient Mariner.
Despite the lack of municipal water, credit must be given to our Muslim compatriots, especially from the Musjid Al-Ikram here in Scottburgh, for allowing residents to collect water every day from the mosque.
The rainfall that has been experienced over the last month has broken all records.
Here in the centre of Scottburgh, 418mm of rain has fallen, with 286mm falling on the days of the floods (April 10-12).
The previous time an exceptional amount of rain fell was in 2019 when a section of the N2 collapsed at Adams Road in Amanzimtoti.
The magnitude of the rainfall (as well as climate change) comes into perspective when we compare the April figures for the past eight years in Scottburgh: April 2015 – 30mm; 2016 – 25mm; 2017 – 53mm; 2018 – 67mm; 2019 – 373mm; 2020 – 140mm; 2021 – 124mm; 2022 – 418mm.
The daily rainfall in Scottburgh during April is as follows: 2nd – 20mm; 8th – 44mm; 9th – 27mm; 10th 65mm; 11th – 166mm; 12th – 55mm; 15th – 14mm; 16th – 5mm; 18th – 4mm; 23rd – 13mm; 24th – 5mm.
Total for April: 418mm.
TONY MASON
Scottburgh central
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