Rainfall leaves a path of destruction
Families save what they can as the water floods in
“I woke up to my wife screaming bloody murder as she found the house flooded in water,” said Radcliffe Goodall.
This family is just one of three that was affected by the heavy rains last night in Davidsonville’s Cupid Crescent.
The Goodall family woke up to shoes floating on water and their electrical appliances damaged under water.
The flooding which occurred in the early hours of this morning stems from the Tailings dam, an earth-fill embankment dam used to store byproducts of mining.
The dam which is located behind the houses behind on Cupido Crescent could not handle the force of the water and broke through the cyanide sand and over the stone wall barrier.
The sand carried by the waters then blocked the drainage system causing the water to overflow into the yards, breaking the walls.
“It felt like a nightmare as the water was everywhere, no room was spared. When we looked outside, the walls had collapsed which was allowing more water to flood into the yard then the house. We tried to save the cars in the garage but unfortunately one was damaged. The water and sand managed to get into the car and cylinders of the engine. However, we are grateful that everyone is okay because it could have been worse,” said Goodall.
The Goodall family was not the only one affected by the heavy rainfall, their neighbour Wilhemina Dumisani was also affected.
She was fuming at the thought of spending one more night in her damaged house.
“For us it started last night but it only got worse at 4am when the water started to come in. We have a pregnant woman and two young children in the house. We cannot live like this, the councillor must do something about it. This is the second time this has happened and I am tired of having to go sleep at the hall,” she said.
Isobel Scholtz who woke up to similar scenes as her neighbours said the water was so strong she could not open her door.
“Nothing like this has ever happened until they started working on the drainage system of the Tailings dam. The water broke through it and that’s how we find ourselves in this mess. The drain gets blocked and the water overflows into our yards,” she said.
The local ward committee of environment and infratsucture’s Laetitia Stuurman and Ward committee of housing member Denzel April were on scene.
The community was also awaiting Disaster Management to arrive and assess the damage.
Ward 71 councillor Gert Niemand said the city cannot fix everything immediately but will work hard to ensure the safety of the community.
“It’s a mess at the moment and I have been inundated with calls about the flooding. I am worried that more families will be affected as more heavy rainfall is expected,” he said.
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