Listen to this article.
By Anita Dangazele
- Emergency teams rescued 2,517 people from the rising waters and moved them to community centres to sleep and get food.
- The dangerous weather forced the education department to shut down schools in Nelson Mandela Bay and Sarah Baartman until Friday.
A massive storm has brought heavy rain to Nelson Mandela Bay. The floods destroyed homes and forced thousands of people to run away.
Mayor Babalwa Lobishe said emergency teams rescued 2,517 people from the rising waters. The city moved these residents into 23 community centres to sleep and get food.
The dangerous weather forced the education department to shut down schools in Nelson Mandela Bay and the Sarah Baartman district until Friday.
The floods have even stopped funerals. The city closed 10 graveyards because the ground is too wet. This includes graveyards in Motherwell and Bethelsdorp.
The heavy rainfall caused widespread chaos but it also brought much-needed water. The rain filled all five dams that supply the city.
Senior water director Barry Martin said the rain has finally broken the longest drought in the history of Nelson Mandela Bay.
The Impofu Dam is the largest in the area. It is now overflowing at 110% of its capacity for the first time since 2016.
But the city still loses 40% of its clean water to leaks. Lobishe warned people to keep saving water.
“We are still urging our residents to use water sparingly and keep on reporting water leaks,” she said.
The heavy rain is also destroying homes further down the coast. The Kouga Municipality is moving people out of the Gamtoos Valley this morning, Friday 8 May.
Rescue teams are moving residents to safety because the Kouga Dam started spilling over. Officials said roads have washed away and trees have fallen. This blocked access in Humansdorp and Hankey.
Pictured above: Floods have destroyed homes and forced thousands to run away in Nelson
Mandela Bay.
Image source: Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality/Facebook
