By Anita Dangazele
- Rescue workers are rushing to save trapped residents in Nelson Mandela Bay after massive storms washed away their entire homes.
- The government warns that people with disabilities face terrible danger because they have no transport and lack clear safety plans.
Wild weather is tearing across four provinces, destroying homes and shutting down roads. The massive storms are dumping heavy rain on the coast and thick snow inland, putting people with disabilities in terrible danger.
The government is sounding the alarm.
The Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities says the severe weather hits vulnerable groups the hardest.
Department spokesperson Cassius Selala says people with disabilities face a high risk because they cannot move easily and lack transport.
He says disaster plans often leave them out completely.
The damage is massive. Floodwaters washed into shacks in Concordia near Knysna early on Wednesday morning.
Towns like Port Alfred and Uniondale recorded more than 130 millimetres of rain.
In Nelson Mandela Bay, rescue workers carried a person in a wheelchair out of a flooded house in Fernglen.
Teams also moved 19 people from KwaZakhele to a community hall to keep them safe.
The municipality has opened more than 20 halls to shelter victims who lost their homes.
While the coast floods, the storms are freezing the interior. Thick ice and snow forced officials to close parts of the N1 and N10 roads in the Northern Cape. Snow also fell at Lootsberg Pass and Wapadsberg in the Eastern Cape.
Eastern Cape transport spokesperson Unathi Binqose says emergency workers are fighting a double challenge with floods and snow.
The storms are wrecking businesses.
Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber boss Denise van Huyssteen says factories and warehouses suffered flood damage, forcing some to shut for the week.
Western Cape disaster management head Gerhard Otto warned drivers to stay off flooded roads.
Stranded Nelson Mandela Bay residents can call the emergency centre on 041 585 1555. Kouga residents can send a WhatsApp to 081 760 9183.
Pictured above: A flooded street in Nelson Mandela Bay after heavy rain.
Image source:Supplied
