Evacuations, road closures in SA after storms

JOHANNESBURG – People were evacuated near Durban, some arterial roads closed near Bloemfontein and there was traffic chaos in Johannesburg due to country-wide unseasonal storms yesterday.

About 200 people were taken to safety from the Powertown informal settlement, near Durban, after water levels rose in the low-lying area, Eden District Disaster Management Centre spokesperson Gerhard Otto said.The Klein Brak River, already at a high level, rose even higher when a nearby dam burst after the evacuation.Homes were evacuated in Lawaaikamp, George, when storm water drains couldn’t channel the water away. Otto said the area would be evacuated for two to three days until houses were dry.River levels in the area were subsiding after the heavy rains, even though there was still a light drizzle.’It looks like the worst is over.’In the Free State major routes leading to Bloemfontein were closed, provincial police said.The N1 was closed between Bloemfontein and Edenburg and the N6 was closed between Bloemfontein and Reddersburg, Colonel Sam Makhele said early on Wednesday afternoon.The road between the Free State capital and Thaba ‘Nchu was closed earlier on Wednesday.Makhele warned drivers not to take alternative routes near flooded roads, as many of them were untarred and ‘totally impassable for now’.South African Weather Service forecaster Arno Dyason said they were still looking at heavy rainfall on the South Cost and adjacent interior, central Karoo of the Western Cape and south-west part of the Northern Cape overnight.The Weather Service’s Bloemfontein office reported the area had up to 100mm of rain over the last 24 hours, and that the Renosterspruit burst its banks.Dyason said the previous record for Bloemfontein in winter was in 1964, when 26mm fell over a 24-hour period.The weather caused chaos on Gauteng roads yesterday morning.’It’s horrific. My roads are flooded, there’s water everywhere,’ Johannesburg metro police spokesperson Edna Mamonyane said. Metro police closed New Canada Road in Soweto because of flooding. In the past cars were washed away on this road. Klipspruit Valley Road would also be closed.A burning truck on the M1 north, near the Jan Smuts offramp, caused massive traffic delays in the morning. All four lanes of the north-bound section of the highway were closed.Johannesburg metro police spokesperson Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar said End Street, in the inner city, was under water.- Nampa-Sapa

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