Severe weather warning for areas just outside of Gauteng

As several parts of the country faced storms during the weekend, some provinces have been issued yet another weather warning.

Isolated to scattered showers are expected on Tuesday across the central, eastern and western regions of the country.

ALSO READ: Flood warning in Mpumalanga after devastating week of weather

The South African Weather Service (Saws) on Monday issued a yellow level 2 warning for severe thunderstorms in Free State, north of Eastern Cape, western parts of the North West and some areas just outside Gauteng.

The areas affected include Ficksburg, Klerksdorp, Maluti a Phofung, Sasolburg, Welkom and Naledi.

Weather warning

According to the weather service, the warning will be in place from Tuesday noon until 9pm tonight.

“Localised damage to infrastructure, informal settlements property, vehicles, livelihood and livestock. Localised and short-term disruption to municipal and other essential services (e.g. power supply),” it said.

Furthermore, the storms will cause localised flooding of susceptible roads, low-lying areas and bridges, resulting in the loss of agricultural production.

Safety measures

Saws warned affected residents to take the following precautions during the storms.

• Do not seek shelter under trees or tall objects during storms.
• Park cars under shelter.
• Keep an eye on the Saws website for any updates regarding flooding development.
• Load Weather Smart APP, scroll to last page and use two fingers to navigate storm tracking application.

ALSO READ: Gauteng residents warned to brace for severe thunderstorms

Dam wall burst

Meanwhile, in Mpumalanga, amid reports that the Kruger Dam wall had burst, DA ward councillor Johann Dyason told The Citizen on 28 March that the wall is “stable”.

“We had 80mm of rain in the area yesterday and last night. There’s a massive flow of water into the Athlone Dam that flows through to the Kruger Dam and it’s just massive water that came through over the overflow. The dam wall did not break.

“According to the engineers, it’s stable,” he said.

The ward councillor added there was a crack in the Kruger Dam wall.

“We were there with the municipality about three years ago and raised our concerns. They said they would have it checked by the relevant engineers, and they said the dam wall is fine.”

Additional reporting by Faizel Patel.

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