Windhoek mops up

“TYPICAL Windhoek. Either it rains nothing or it all comes pouring down at once,” said ex-Miss Namibia finalist Chantal van Taak yesterday morning while sweeping water out of her office at F-1 Express in the Southern Industrial Area.

Another worker there, Paul Koch, added: “We ask for rain every day. But we didn’t really want this much of it”. Wednesday’s thunderstorm, which claimed the life of one woman and left parts of the capital in chaos, had road workers, business people and householders spending much of yesterday cleaning up.Chief Meteorological Technician, Jennifer Moetie said 55,5 mm of rain fell at the Windhoek Weather Bureau in the 24 hours from 08h00 on Wednesday.Some 62 mm was recorded in Olympia.For Suiderhof the figure stood at 60 mm, while in Hochland Park 31 mm fell.Moetie said the last time so much rain fell in one 24-hour period was on February 19 2002 when 83,2 mm fell at the Windhoek Weather Bureau.”Although we are already over the norm for January, the figures aren’t exceptionally high.But what caused the chaos was that the rain came too fast, very fast,” said Moetie yesterday.”For the rest of the week, it won’t be that intense.Next week, the rain will pick up again,” she added.Sydney Theron, the Head of Operations at the Emergency Services in Windhoek, said five rescue operations were mounted on Wednesday.The Municipality said later that 18 houses were seriously flooded.Yesterday, in Laurent Kabila Street in southern Windhoek, municipal workers were searching for manhole covers that had been washed away.The rushing waters also flattened many water level markers in the capital.Mandume Ndemufayo Avenue was closed yesterday as over 30 road workers tried to clean up what looked like a muddy swamp along some sections of the road.Tree stumps and other foliage, swept along by the Gammams River, had partly prevented the water course from flowing under the road.As a result the river flowed on to the road and also damaged parts of the motor repair shop, Speedy Exhaust.”The City of Windhoek spent over N$300 000 to clean up its rivers for the past three years.It just doesn’t end.On this street [Mandume] and for this clean-up, we’ll have to pay between N$20 000 and N$30 000,” said Johan Kriel, Chief Engineer: Roads and Storm Water for the City of Windhoek.”The problem also in Windhoek is that the ground is not well established and there are a lot of open spaces that result in dirt blocking the storm water drains,” he added.In Rhino Park a blocked drain resulted in “a house standing in the air”, as a municipal worker described it.With the foundation of their home partially swept away, the Itewa family had to spend the night at a friend’s house.”Our entire house was under water.We had nowhere to go.Our electricity is off, the TV is broken, all my documents are washed away,” said Nellie Itewa.”The damage will cost us about N$50 000,” her husband Pumbili added.”It was like a strange dream.The water came in so silently and suddenly everything was under 15 cm of water,” said their daughter Namutenya.A neighbour, Anastasia Boois, laughed at her recollection of the previous night: “I was swimming in water.I just hope it is all over”.In the same neighbourhood, another resident told The Namibian: “I was sleeping.Suddenly the door started rattling.I thought someone was struggling to get in, but when I opened it, water came pouring in non-stop.I just ran away”.Damage in other Windhoek suburbs was also extensive, although exact figures were difficult to obtain, said emergency officer Theron.”The rain came.Then the wind came.Then our roof just flew off,” said Matilda Swartbooi, whose corrugated iron sheets were carried 20 metres from her house in Hakahana.One of these sheets landed on a passing car and damaged its windscreen.”My children were crying, the man in the car was crying and I thought this is like that terrible south-eastern wind in the Cape.I’m just so glad no one was hurt,” Swartbooi said.Ringo Uirab, also from Hakahana, said: “I had just put my roof on a week ago.Now it’s off again.I don’t understand that”.The four Beukes siblings from Hakahana, who were home alone when calamity struck, cowered on their beds while the roof of their house was ripped off.”Aleda started praying ‘Jesus, ag Jesus help ons tog’ (‘Jesus, oh Jesus, please come and help us’).I was just lying there and cried,” said Bernie Beukes.The rain even destroyed her doll, she said.Another resident commented: “Our whole pondok shook.But the beds these days are made so bad that you can’t even crawl under them for protection”.Wednesday’s thunderstorm, which claimed the life of one woman and left parts of the capital in chaos, had road workers, business people and householders spending much of yesterday cleaning up. Chief Meteorological Technician, Jennifer Moetie said 55,5 mm of rain fell at the Windhoek Weather Bureau in the 24 hours from 08h00 on Wednesday. Some 62 mm was recorded in Olympia. For Suiderhof the figure stood at 60 mm, while in Hochland Park 31 mm fell. Moetie said the last time so much rain fell in one 24-hour period was on February 19 2002 when 83,2 mm fell at the Windhoek Weather Bureau. “Although we are already over the norm for January, the figures aren’t exceptionally high. But what caused the chaos was that the rain came too fast, very fast,” said Moetie yesterday. “For the rest of the week, it won’t be that intense. Next week, the rain will pick up again,” she added. Sydney Theron, the Head of Operations at the Emergency Services in Windhoek, said five rescue operations were mounted on Wednesday. The Municipality said later that 18 houses were seriously flooded. Yesterday, in Laurent Kabila Street in southern Windhoek, municipal workers were searching for manhole covers that had been washed away. The rushing waters also flattened many water level markers in the capital. Mandume Ndemufayo Avenue was closed yesterday as over 30 road workers tried to clean up what looked like a muddy swamp along some sections of the road. Tree stumps and other foliage, swept along by the Gammams River, had partly prevented the water course from flowing under the road. As a result the river flowed on to the road and also damaged parts of the motor repair shop, Speedy Exhaust. “The City of Windhoek spent over N$300 000 to clean up its rivers for the past three years. It just doesn’t end. On this street [Mandume] and for this clean-up, we’ll have to pay between N$20 000 and N$30 000,” said Johan Kriel, Chief Engineer: Roads and Storm Water for the City of Windhoek. “The problem also in Windhoek is that the ground is not well established and there are a lot of open spaces that result in dirt blocking the storm water drains,” he added. In Rhino Park a blocked drain resulted in “a house standing in the air”, as a municipal worker described it. With the foundation of their home partially swept away, the Itewa family had to spend the night at a friend’s house. “Our entire house was under water. We had nowhere to go. Our electricity is off, the TV is broken, all my documents are washed away,” said Nellie Itewa. “The damage will cost us about N$50 000,” her husband Pumbili added. “It was like a strange dream. The water came in so silently and suddenly everything was under 15 cm of water,” said their daughter Namutenya. A neighbour, Anastasia Boois, laughed at her recollection of the previous night: “I was swimming in water. I just hope it is all over”. In the same neighbourhood, another resident told The Namibian: “I was sleeping. Suddenly the door started rattling. I thought someone was struggling to get in, but when I opened it, water came pouring in non-stop. I just ran away”. Damage in other Windhoek suburbs was also extensive, although exact figures were difficult to obtain, said emergency officer Theron. “The rain came. Then the wind came. Then our roof just flew off,” said Matilda Swartbooi, whose corrugated iron sheets were carried 20 metres from her house in Hakahana. One of these sheets landed on a passing car and damaged its windscreen. “My children were crying, the man in the car was crying and I thought this is like
that terrible south-eastern wind in the Cape. I’m just so glad no one was hurt,” Swartbooi said. Ringo Uirab, also from Hakahana, said: “I had just put my roof on a week ago. Now it’s off again. I don’t understand that”. The four Beukes siblings from Hakahana, who were home alone when calamity struck, cowered on their beds while the roof of their house was ripped off. “Aleda started praying ‘Jesus, ag Jesus help ons tog’ (‘Jesus, oh Jesus, please come and help us’). I was just lying there and cried,” said Bernie Beukes. The rain even destroyed her doll, she said. Another resident commented: “Our whole pondok shook. But the beds these days are made so bad that you can’t even crawl under them for protection”.