When rain hits, the city turns on its residents, as flash floods cause congested traffic, accidents and general chaos.
On 31 January mother nature again bared her fangs, washing away any hopes of an ‘easy commute Friday’ as the heavens opened and endangered lives on the road.
As the Witpoortjie River swelled to record levels on Friday, visitors to Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens witnessed a truly incredible spectacle as the water rushed over the falls.
Rain fell on and off over the weekend with heavy rains returning on Sunday afternoon. The rain persisted through the night continuing on Monday without ceasing. In total Northside saw 195mm of rain from Friday to Monday.
As rivers filled, flash flooding across Joburg wreaked havoc with traffic from early in the morning. Northside was no different. With storm water drains overflowing, water had nowhere to go but over roads and pavements.
The situation on Hendrik Potgieter was compounded by malfunctioning traffic lights from Ruimsig all the way to the N1. This brought traffic to a standstill. Motorists reported it taking more than 30 minutes to drive just 1km.
