Town takes stock of f lood damage
UTHUKELA District Municipality mayor Ntandoyenkosi Shabalala is taking stock of the damage after heavy rainfalls caused widespread flooding in the area on the weekend.
Shabalala assured residents that there had not been much damage to homes and none of the victims had to be taken to community halls.
Over the weekend, Independent Media reported that the floods started in the early hours on Friday when the Klip River, which passes through the town before joining the uthukela River, burst its banks. When it burst, the bypass road that joins the N11 to Newcastle was closed, and pedestrians were told to stop using it.
Shabalala further said that municipal workers were currently on the ground attending to the damage caused by the flooding. Shabalala said he had not received any reports of fatalities and injuries.
Alfred Duma Municipality mayor Zama Sibisi said that he had received reports that houses were damaged on Saturday night.
The Emnambithi/ladysmith Municipality and Indaka Local Municipality are part of the municipalities that merged to form the new Alfred Duma Local Municipality.
Sibisi said luckily most of the people had more houses in their yards, so that was where they were now.
“Other people have gone to live with their neighbours, and there are those who are currently at a community hall,” he explained.
He added that most houses had been built with mud, and said that they did not have an exact number of homes that had been destroyed.
“It was not even clear where the rivers start and end. Rivers are full. It is like one big lake. The roads are destroyed, bridges are gone, and the situation is bad,” said Sibisi.
He added that what had caused the flooding was the issue of the valves.
Sibisi said they had 11 valves that took water from the town to the river. He said the valves had been damaged and some of them were not even there.
“We budgeted R15 million to attend to the flooding.
“We could only get eight valves, which have been fitted. This reduced flooding compared to the previous year. We will receive the remaining valves next month and, once fitted, the issue of flooding will be history – total history,” said Sibisi.
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