Thunderstorm, flooding leaves disaster in its wake

The metro has announced that it is on high alert following Wednesday’s disastrous floods which claimed four lives.

The thunderstorm which started in the late afternoon and lasted a number of hours left 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’s mayor Clr 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 metro and moved northwards.

The metro’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,” mayoral spokesman Zweli Dlamini said.

“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.”

A man drowned in Ravensklip in Boksburg, a woman was killed when a truck plunged into stationary vehicles at the 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 informal settlement in Primrose.

“However, they refused temporary accommodation in fear of losing their belongings which remained trapped in their structures,” said Dlamini.

He added that railway tracks were also washed away at Ravensklip in Boksburg.

The metro, in collaboration with the Gauteng provincial government, has set up a joint operation centre in Bedfordview and emergency services teams remain on high alert.

Tailings dams which are overflowing due to the flooding in the Knights and Makause areas are also a major threat to residents.

A technical team made up of Ekurhuleni, Gauteng provincial government and the departments of water and mining resources have gone out to assess the situation and determine possible intervention.

Meanwhile, mopping up of flooded areas continues.

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