VIDEO: Presidentsrus residents trapped after low water bridge floods
The Witbank Dam's sluices being opened on Tuesday resulted in residents from the Mpumalanga town being trapped indefinitely.
A warning was issued for Olifants River Lodge on Tuesday, where residents were urged to evacuate before water from the Olifants River reaches them. Image: Supplied/Middelburg Observer
Many people are currently trapped on ‘the island’ in Presidentsrus after the Witbank Dam sluices were opened on Tuesday, reports Middelburg Observer.
A warning was issued for Olifants River Lodge on Tuesday, where residents were urged to evacuate before water from the Olifants River reached them.
ALSO READ: Possible flooding expected in Witbank as sluice gates opened up
Jacky Smith from the lodge confirmed that they did receive a warning, but that the lodge was safe and that the exit to the lodge was on a hill with the river flowing below, making it easy to get out.
She said the Olifants River Lodge was still open for business, adding that yesterday’s warning was actually aimed more at Presidentsrus residents, who are now trapped.
One of the residents recalled how when the Witbank Dam’s sluices were opened on a previous occasion, they were stranded for three days after the bridge they used to access the “outside world” flooded.
(Translated from Afrikaans by Nica Schreuder)
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