Searches go on for flood victims
City says it’s working hard to restore water and power to desperate citizens
AS SAPS Search and Rescue K9 unit diver Sergeant Busisiwe Mjwara was laid to rest yesterday in an emotional service at a packed Pietermaritzburg City Hall, SAPS K9 dive team members were boarding a helicopter at Virginia Airport in Durban.
Along with numerous rescue teams, the K9 were heading for another long day searching for victims among the rubble – this time at a house in Inanda that had been washed away.
While the search and rescue efforts remain on-going, protests flared this week in areas such as Verulam, Mariannhill, Hammarsdale and Umgababa as residents vented their anger over the lack of water and power.
Residents in suburbs such as the Bluff in the south and Newlands West to the north, have also become increasingly frustrated as 12 days since the massive storm, water and electricity supplies had not been restored, while in other areas water supply was erratic.
There was also concern over the lack of water tankers: one caller from the Bluff said not one water tanker had been spotted in their area which had been without water supply since last Monday.
Another caller, from Parkgate, Verulam, said yesterday: “We have not received a drop of water since last Monday and there’s no assistance from anyone. We just want them (municipality) to bring a tanker once a day for one hour.”
He added he and a friend had hired a truck and a JoJo tank to get water from a borehole for their community. But when they got to the borehole, there was no power in that area and so the pump they needed to get the water could not be used.
eThekwini Municipality spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela yesterday appealed for calm, saying the city was doing everything in its power to restore services.
He added that despite bulk water supplier Umgeni Water suffering extensive damage to its infrastructure, including “mudslides dislocating water joints”, water was gradually being restored.
“Out of the 100% of homes that were without water, 60% in the Inner and Outer West regions have running water. The Central and North regions are sitting at 50%.
“We acknowledge challenges in the South following the damage that occurred on the Umlazi Canal Pipeline which affects water supply in many parts of the southern region. Our teams are currently on site laying a temporary pipeline and this work will be completed by this weekend.
“The rains also damaged our water treatment plant in oThongathi, which has affected the water supply in the entire area. This requires a full upgrade which will take about six months.
“As an interim measure, we are procuring a package plant that will enable us to purify raw water from the source.
Working with Umgeni Water, we are planning to use Hazelmere Dam as an alternate supply source,” he said.
“We can assure residents living in all parts of the city that we are working hard to ensure that water and electricity are restored as soon as possible despite the massive damage our infrastructure has experienced.
“Some parts of the city have started receiving tap water, though pressure may differ due to the location in some areas. Water tankers have been made available to other areas that are still experiencing shortages,” said Mayisela, adding that with regard to power, all affected substations had been identified and the majority were in the final stages of repair.
Also yesterday, the Executive Summary Report to eThekwini mayor Mxolisi Kaunda detailed operations that were under way to restore crucial water and electricity services, as well as fix the roads leading to substations and other critical infrastructure, that had been washed away.
According to the report, the primary distribution challenges, and “the mounting pressure on water demand” were listed as:
♦ Limited number of filling points which saw tankers queueing for long hours;
♦ Tanker drivers being forcefully diverted to other wards outside the plan, by councillors “who just stormed” into filling points;
♦ Working relations between PR and ward councillors posing a challenge to eThekwini Water & Sanitation department operations, leading to duplication of resource allocation.
To address the water delivery, the report confirmed SANDF Brigadier General Sandile Hlongwa and the eThekwini engineering department heads had flown over the affected areas to assess the damage, resulting in the setting up of two task teams.
The first task team was dealing with water related issues that included :
♦ The army providing eight water “bankers” which are filled in the evening from different reservoirs and dispatched the next morning to supply water to relevant areas;
♦ These tankers have a capacity of
13 500 litres each and can navigate
difficult terrain;
♦ The army also has a water purification system which they sent to Inanda Dam, and this system provides 10 000 litres an hour;
♦ Once the water is purified, sachets of water would be distributed to communities.
♦ The second task team would deal
with engineering related issues:
♦ The army to provide heavy machinery such as bulldozers and tipper trucks;
♦ The city fleet to also make available
all their machinery;
♦ The army to provide navy welders and two excavators
The report also detailed that uMgeni Water, the main supplier of drinking water to the city, had committed to increasing their water purification efforts and to increase eThekwini’s water supply by 41 megalitres of water to stabilise water distribution across the city.
Meanwhile, the Roads and Stormwater Maintenance Department’s main priority was to reinstate access along major routes to allow access to water and electricity related infrastructure, such as waste water
treatment works, pump stations, electrical substations and access roads to cleaning and solid waste stations.
With regard to strategic route repairs, the report confirmed that Solomon Mahlangu (Edwin Swales) had re-opened, while a temporary detour in and out of uMlazi through the 102 interchange had been established. The interchange and M4 south were seriously damaged in the floods.
As for the power outages, the report stated the volume of reported faults had surged to more than five times a normal day’s report as many parts of the city were plunged into darkness, with power supply remaining erratic in many suburbs.
The LV (low voltage) network which supplies 99.9% of customers in eThekwini, experienced the most damage and the highest number of faults.
Work to restore electrical networks was on-going, while after a fire at the Mariannridge substation in the Outer West area, transformers were found to be intact and work was continuing to restore the substation to full working capacity.