ALERT: Gauteng residents warned to brace for afternoon thunderstorm
Residents and motorists can expect heavy rains, damaging winds and hail in parts of the province.
A severe thunderstorm is expected in Gauteng this afternoon.
The South African Weather Service has warned that the storm will hit at midday.
Residents and motorists can expect heavy rains, damaging winds and hail in parts of the province.
Also read:Â Keep your pets safe during flash floods
On Saturday, a tree caught fire outside the Eastleigh Taxi Rank after being struck by lightning.
Emergency services responded to the incident and extinguished the blaze.
Watch the video here:
How does the South African Weather Service categorise severe weather warnings:
Severe weather is an extreme meteorological event or phenomenon, which represents a real hazard to human life and property and has the potential to cause damage, serious social disruption, or loss of human life.
- Special Weather Advisory: an alert raising awareness up to five days in advance to either expected large scale potential disruptive weather systems that could later lead to specific watches/warnings with time, or to less urgent alerts of uncommon conditions.
- Severe Weather Watch:  an alert calling for preparedness to weather hazards that most likely will occur within one to three days and that could lead to disruptive and disastrous conditions.
- Severe Weather Warning: an alert calling for reaction due to a very high certainty of a severe weather hazard that is already occurring or imminent within 24 hours and that could lead to disruptive and disastrous conditions.
Expecting hail? Here’s what to do:
• Seek shelter, if you are outdoors, but not under a tree, telephone/power lines, on hilltops, in isolated sheds or under unprotected gazebos or picnic shelters;
• Avoid being near metal objects, such as fences, golf carts, telephone or power lines and steel structures such as pylons and windmills;
• Do not hold onto any metal object or use any electrical appliances;
• Do not use the telephone, take a bath or shower;
• Do not play sport during thunderstorms – golfers and fishermen are at high risk;
• If possible stay indoors and well clear of windows;
• Shelter your pets, cover vehicles and disconnect electrical appliances.
In case of a life threatening emergency call 011 458 0911/10177
You may also like this video:
5 Wet weather driving mistakes to avoid:
- Mistake one: Not adjusting speed to conditions
Speed limits in wet weather automatically change, due to the various factors like visibility, traffic and traction, therefore drivers need to adjust their speed to match the immediate driving conditions.
Solution: If visibility is minimised or if the road is wet, snowy, or icy, you should slow down significantly. This will give you more time to respond to any incident, and help prevent a loss-of-traction situation.
- Mistake two: Doing more than one thing at a time.
Even in clear, dry conditions, it is easy to overload one tyre doing two or more things at once, like turning and braking at the same time. In wet conditions it is much easier to lose traction on the road when forcing the vehicle to do two or more things at once.
Solution: Do one thing at a time – brake, then steer/turn, then accelerate. This will help prevent demanding too much of the tyre that takes the brunt of the traction requirements, thereby reducing the chance of a loss-of-traction situation.
- Mistake three: Not looking far enough ahead
Many drivers focus on the part of the road just ahead of their own vehicle, often missing important road changes and not responding quickly enough to these conditions – like a lane closure, for example. Changing lanes earlier or braking in time might just prevent an accident.
Solution: Work on looking further ahead (12 – 15 seconds), and also predicting what other drivers might do that could create problems. Detecting potential problems ahead as early as possible can make the difference between a collision and a near miss.
- Mistake four: Not maintaining enough space.
Most drivers fail to maintain enough space between their vehicle and other vehicles around them. Frequently, drivers position themselves too closely to the vehicle in front. But, maintaining ‘open’ space to the sides is also critical – you may need to move into that space quickly. If you don’t have that space, you’ll be without an effective option to prevent a crash.
Solution: Back off a bit and lift up on the accelerator to keep an open space to at least one side of the vehicle. Space is your best friend out on the road – to the front, sides, and rear. It’s hard to collide with something if you have plenty of space around the vehicle.
- Mistake five: Not giving the road your full attention.
Driving in poor weather requires your undivided concentration so that you can constantly adjust your speed and position, and detect any potential problems as early as possible. A ‘shiny’ patch on the road ahead – a diesel spill – could indicate tyres possibly losing traction, or another vehicle pulling out into your lane. If you add other tasks to driving, such as using a cell phone or changing the radio station your risk increases dramatically.
Solution: Stay focused on driving. Get there, and then get busy with non-driving activities. Common sense precautions include programming navigation systems and adjusting music selections before driving, and, of course, ignoring the cell phone.
Even the most experienced drivers cannot predict every accident or incident on the road. Taking care to adjust to poor driving conditions and even being more alert in normal, dry road conditions can be the difference between life and death on the roads.
