Severe thunderstorms claims four lives

The City of Ekurhuleni has announced that it is on high alert following yesterday’s disastrous floods which claimed four lives.

The thunderstorms which started at around 15:00 lasted for about three hours leaving a trail of disaster in various parts of Ekurhuleni.

“This is a very sad situation. It is extremely sad that so many lives were lost as a result of the heavy rain. Our sincere condolences go to their families,” said Ekurhuleni Mayor Cllr Mzwandile Masina, adding that it was also regrettable that so many people lost their belongings in this incident.

The rain started in the southern parts of the city raining towards north. The city’s call centre started receiving frantic calls from members of the public and immediately dispatched district managers to monitor the situation.

“At about 18:00 we received a high rate of distress calls with members of the public reporting incidents of flooding and possible drownings,” mayoral spokesman Zweli Dlamini explains. “We then sent out teams to hotspot areas for rescue missions. Among the areas that were mainly affected were Linksfield, Edenvale, Tembisa, Benoni, Wattville and Boksburg.

A man drowned in Ravensklip in Boksburg, a woman was killed when a truck plunged into stationery vehicles on Linksfield interchange, the same area where a body of a man was found by emergency services when rescuing trapped motorists. The fourth individual was struck by lightning at Sethokga Hostel in Tembisa.

“We also provided emergency relief to 105 people who were displaced when their informal structures were flooded in the Makause area. However, they refused temporary accommodation in fear of losing their belongings which remained trapped in their structures,” Dlamini explains, adding that railway tracks were also washed away at Ravensklip in Boksburg.

The City in collaboration with the Gauteng Provincial Government have set up a joint operation centre in Bedforview and emergency services teams remain on high alert.

Another area that is posing a major threat to residents of Knights and Makause areas is a tailing dams which started overflowing due to flooding. A technical team made up of Ekurhuleni, Gauteng Provincial Government, the departments of water and mining resources have gone out to assess the situation and determine possible intervention.

Meanwhile, mopping out of flooded areas continues.

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