A vehicle crosses the R53 bridge over the high flowing Vaal River, in Parys, 20 February 2023, in the Free State. Sections of the Vaal River have flooded alongside the river banks. Picture: Michel Bega/The Citizen
Mother Nature is showing no mercy to the residents of Deneysville, Parys and Secunda as floodwater levels rise and rain continues as they try to pick up the pieces after two weeks of damage.
Last week, President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a national state of disaster to enable an intensive, coordinated response to floods affecting Mpumalanga, the Eastern Cape, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, the Northern Cape and North West.
ALSO READ: ‘I’m left with nothing’: Mpumalanga’s residents salvaging what they can after floods
And there could be more rain on the way for eastern parts of the country, with tropical cyclone Freddy set to pass over Madagascar and lash Mozambique and Zimbabwe later this week.
While residents desperately tried to save what they could, the rain continued again yesterday. The R549 road passing the Vaal Dam wall was also under threat as water started flooding about 50 to 100m from the road.
Many resorts and clubs on the dam bank have been closed until further notice. St Peter’s United Church on the dam bank was mere centimetres away from flooding with the water pushing up to the church entrance.
On the bridge over the Vaal Dam wall, passersby stopped to take photos of the 12 sluice gates open after the dam reached over 100% capacity at the weekend.
Msiye Nkhoheba and Kasimu Yusuru, who live close to the dam, said there had been too much rain.
“Now the water is here in our garden,” said Nkhoheba. He said by today the flood water would have reached his house. Yusuru said he caught a big 60cmlong carp in his flooded garden.
Jacob Makau, who fishes along the river bank under the bridge, said he fished daily for food and sold the extra fish for money.
“I catch between 20 and 30 fish a day. There is a lot of fish now, big and small,” he said. Makau said that it wasn’t dangerous to fish at the bottom of the dam wall because he was not standing in the water.
A local farmer, speaking anonymously, said there had been 20mm of rain last week.
“The whole Vaal Dam region got a lot of rain. Everything is flooded in the area,” he said. The farmer said there was no flood damage at his house but his crops had been negatively affected.
“Our roads and infrastructure have suffered damage,” he added.
ALSO READ: Floods: Transnet workers rescued after truck swept into river
He noted it was the second-worst flood in 40 years on his farm. The farmer said he stood on the bridge in 1974 after all 60 sluice gates were opened.
“All I remember is how the bridge shook from the impact of all the water streaming down the dam wall,” he said.
The farmer said the current level of rainfall was abnormal and if it rained more there would be problems.
Deneysville Water Sport Club manager Isabelle van der Merwe said the resort was under water. Van der Merwe said the contents of the first line of caravans at the dam had to be removed because the water level kept rising.
She said most campers only visited the resort over the weekend but they had had to return yesterday to save their belongings.
ALSO READ: Floods: North West declared disaster area by municipality
One of the regulars, Gideon Harmse’s tent stand flooded to knee-height over the weekend.
“I had a braai yesterday. We sat in the water and it was so much fun,” he said.
Harmse has been visiting the resort for the past four years and said that he wasn’t worried about the damage.
“It is what it is, what has to happen will happen,” he said.
B&B owner Githea Landsberg said they didn’t have any flood damage. Landsberg said, however, the floods affected their business because people couldn’t fish at the dam.
South African Weather Service forecaster Kevin Rae said that intense tropical cyclone Freddy had featured in the circulation of the southwest Indian Ocean region for the last week.
“For the past few days, it has drifted slowly westwards, following a track roughly parallel to the equator.
“Currently, Freddy lies about 400km northeast of Mauritius and is expected to pass relatively close to the islands of Mauritius and La Reunion as it continues to drift further westwards,” he said.
Vox Weather forecaster Annette Botha said the current weather systems weren’t abnormal as it was cyclone season. Botha said Freddy was a dangerous system with high winds, heavy rainfall, storm surges, rough seas, mudslides and flash flooding all possible risks.
“The cyclone is currently no threat to South Africa. But remember tropical systems are notoriously fickle and unpredictable.
“They often exhibit very erratic movement and accuracy of predictions provided by weather models typically improve significantly as the lead-time shortens,” she said.
– marizkac@citizen.co.za
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