Sunshine is back after a torrential weekend
After a weekend indoors, Gautengers can expect a clear week and sunshine.
Rain during the Currie Cup match between Vodacom Blue Bulls and DHL Western Province at Loftus Versfeld on October 13, 2018 in Pretoria, South Africa. (Photo by Lee Warren/Gallo Images)
Gauteng’s rainy and cold weather is expected to clear up today as the system gradually moves out of the province this evening, says the SA Weather Service.
The rain on Saturday and yesterday saw the service sending out warnings of severe conditions.
Flash floods and hail caused chaos in parts of Gauteng.
There were unconfirmed reports that two people drowned in the Apies River in Pretoria. Police and emergency services were investigating.
Other reports said vehicles were washed off roads and that hail blocked roads in parts of Tshwane. Emergency services took to various platforms, including Twitter, to warn people to be cautious when using roads in the province yesterday, sharing safety tips such as that 20cm of water can sweep a person away; half a metre of water can float a car; never drive around barricades; don’t drown, turn around.
Slippery road conditions may have been a factor in a three-vehicle pile-up on the N1 South highway near Sandton yesterday morning, in which five people were injured, one seriously.
A Currie Cup rugby clash between the Blue Bulls and Western Province at Loftus Versveld in Pretoria had a delayed start because of torrential rain and lightning on Saturday night.
The rain came down in sheets during the match, forcing the abandonment of the fixture after the first half, reportedly the first time this has happened in the history of the competition.
Western Province, who were leading 34-7 at the end of the first half, were then declared the winners.
– jenniffero@citizen.co.za
Info
The gloomy weekend brought decent rain to Gauteng, which generally got more than some other provinces.
- These are some of the rainfall figures (as at 8am yesterday) from the SA Weather Service: Gauteng
- Zuurbekom: 45mm.
- Irene: 31mm.
- Joburg Botanical Gardens 34mm.
- Roodepoort-Kloofendal 34mm.
- Vereeniging 37mm.
- Wonderboom Airport (Tshwane) 31mm.
- Machadorp in Mpumalanga got 32mm, Dwarsfontein in the North West 80mm (the highest in any reporting station in the country), while De Aar in the drought-troubled Northern Cape got a welcome 78mm.
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