Gauteng gets enough rain to fill Cape dams
AFTERMATH: FLOODING AND DAMAGE TO ELECTRICAL INFRASTRUCTURE
Motorists warned to stay clear of number of collapsed or low-lying bridges.
Heavy rain across the central and eastern parts of the country yesterday saw widespread flooding, damage to electricity infrastructure and power outages, as well as a string of vehicle accidents.
Emergency services were hardpressed to keep up and, in some cases, called upon to evacuate people from flooding areas.
Johannesburg Emergency Management Services (EMS) spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi said informal settlements – including Diepsloot, Klipspruit West and Jackson Park – were severely affected.
Mulaudzi said EMS evacuated residents in severely affected areas. Diepsloot residents were placed in the local community centre.
Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) spokesperson Bertha Peters-Scheepers said the floods were caused by blockages of drainage systems.
“JRA has inspected recurring blockages in the areas which are termed as flooding hot spots and we are monitoring low level bridges prone to overtopping during heavy downpours. Maintenance and repairs to damaged water drains and blocked drains are also prioritised,” she said.
Disaster Management Services (DMS) spokesperson Niel Rooi said: “During normal operation, drainage systems can handle the water flow. But as soon as there is prolonged rain, the water flow blocks the inflow, so we’re trying to systematically clean those inflows of the drainage system.”
Peters-Scheepers said their teams are also out closing worst-affected roads and bridges and ensuring others are safe for travel and “in anticipation of further storms”.
JRA warned motorists to stay clear of a number of collapsed or low-lying bridges, while the agency’s managing director, Sean Phillips, advised: “People need to stay away of flooding hot spots and they need to keep children away from drainage ditches and open drainage systems.
“Motorists should be cautious and never drive into water covering the road. If the vehicle stalls, leave it immediately and seek higher ground.”
SA Weather Service forecaster Kumsa Masizana said the weather was expected to clear from today.
Masizana explained that the heavy rainfall was due to a cold front that moved over the country. “We also had heavy upper air conditions. These triggered large upper air systems which caused heavy rain,” she said.
Masizana said the cause of the heavy rainfall was influenced by the “dominant tropical systems”.
Tshwane Emergencies Services yesterday urgently evacuated people in Soshanguve and Ga-Rankuwa, north of Pretoria, and in Mamelodi, east of Pretoria, because the Jukskei River threatened to burst its banks.
Spokesperson Johan Pieterse said the Hennops and Apies rivers were also at dangerously high levels. Tshwane spokesperson Selby Bokaba said many suburbs and townships suffered power outages and that city technicians and electricians would first focus on area outages for restoration and thereafter attend to individual complaints.
He warned residents to treat all electrical points as live.
Most low bridges in Centurion and in and around Tshwane were closed. Motorists were warned to avoid the R55 and M24 roads due to a huge sinkhole. A motorist drove into the sinkhole yesterday.