#Floods – Ekurhuleni Metro on high alert

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

Multimedia: Videos and gallery from November 9 floods

The thunderstorms, which started at around 3pm on November 9, lasted for about three hours and left a trail of disaster in various parts of Ekurhuleni.

Floods – Death toll rises to 2

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

Rains cause floods just days after Humphreys’ warning about blocked stormwater drains

“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 6pm we received a high rate of distress calls with members of the public reporting incidents of flooding and possible drownings,” said mayoral spokesperson, Mr Zweli Dlamini.

Floods – Bedfordview one of the worst hit areas

“We then sent out teams to hot-spot areas for rescue missions. Among the areas that were mainly affected were Linksfield, Edenvale, Tembisa, Benoni, Wattville and Boksburg,” said Mr Dlamini.
A woman was killed when a truck plunged into stationery vehicles at the Linksfield interchange, the same area where the 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.

Gallery: Business clean-up operations in full swing

“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,” said Mr Dlamini. He said railway tracks were also washed away at Ravensklip in Boksburg.

Gallery: Residents band together to clean up after devastating floods

Mr Dlamini said the City, in collaboration with the Gauteng Provincial Government, has set up a joint operation centre in Bedforview and emergency services teams remain on high alert.
Another major threat to residents of the Knights and Makause areas are the 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.