Officials warn Tugela River may burst its banks

Although there have been heavy rains in Ladysmith for the past three days, the Klip River is unlikely at this stage to be at risk of bursting its banks, reports the Ladysmith Gazette.

The same cannot be said of the Tugela River. As Spioenkop Dam nears 100% full, the river is expected to burst its banks in low-lying areas, especially farmland downstream of the dam.

The Bergville water purification plant pumps are already flooded and are no longer operational, and uThukela has stressed that they will do their very best to supply Bergville with water.

Woodstock Dam has already burst its banks. With the dam being over 100% full, water is being pumped out of the dam into Sterkfontein Dam.

Water is flowing heavily into Driel Dam, which pushes water into Spioenkop Dam. Currently, there is 750 cubic metres of water a second going into Spioenkop Dam.

On Monday morning, Spioenkop was 77% full and on Tuesday morning it was 88% full. On Tuesday afternoon, the dam was 93% full and was increasing.

It is estimated by dam officials that by midnight on Tuesday, the dam would be 100% full.

This meant that water would go over the dam wall, causing flooding of the Tugela River. A warning is issued for farmers near the Tugela River that they need to remove all pumps from the river.

The Storm Report SA Facebook page is flooded with photos and videos showing the effect that recent rainfall has had on dams rivers and roads in various parts of the country.

View some of the videos below:

The following video was posted on the Storm Report SA Facebook page on Monday and captioned: “Chris Heunis – Blyde dam near Hoedspruit 107.4%”

Also on Monday, the below image of the Roodeplaat Dam was posted with the following credit: “Mari Grunig – Roodeplaat Dam 100.34%”

On Tuesday, the following video depicting the flooded streets in Wolmaransstad, North West province, was posted on the Facebook page with the credit: “Linda van der Watt – Wolmaransstad”

– Caxton News Service

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