Date: 11th July 2011
By Brian Hayward
FLASH floods in the Karoo heartland at the weekend have caused millions of rands in damage to roads and dams, while disaster management officials are on high alert and ready to evacuate residents in low-lying areas.
In and around the historic town of Graaff-Reinet and nearby Nieu Bethesda, more than 100mm of rain fell in 24 hours on Saturday and Sunday. Some farmers reported 75mm falling in just 30 minutes – knocking out cellphone and landline communications, causing dams on farms to burst and tearing up dirt roads, rendering many areas inaccessible.
In Graaff-Reinet, police, disaster management and traffic officials are poised to evacuate residents in low-lying areas after the town‘s Nqweba Dam swelled to its highest level in more than 36 years yesterday. Disaster management officials said the dam, which lies above the town, rose to 116% capacity early yesterday morning – its highest level since devastating floods in 1974 – following weeks of rain in the area and heavy thunderstorms late on Saturday.
Extra police and traffic officials are on standby in case residents need to be evacuated – particularly the Huis Van De Graaff old age home and the Union High and Prep school hostels.
The area‘s disaster management head, Christopher Rhoode, said he had had about five hours of sleep the entire weekend. “It is very humid and it looks like more rain is on the way.”
Formerly Van Ryneveld‘s Dam, the Nqweba has only overflowed once since 1974, briefly – and mildly – three years ago.
Rhoode said a heavy downpour saw 70mm of rain fall on Saturday in the dam‘s catchment area of Nieu Bethesda. He said the SA Weather Service had warned of “unpredictable weather” over the summer season because of the La Nina weather phenomenon, which typically brings higher rainfall in the form of heavy downpours.
The dam is fed by the Sundays River and Gatsrivier and forms the Lower Sundays River, which runs around the town‘s historic centre.
Emergency services were on tenterhooks following the collapse from heavy rains of a major dam in the area, Coloniesplaas near Nieu Bethesda, earlier last week. The N2 between Graaff-Reinet and Middelburg also had to be closed due to flooding, but was reopened for the weekend.
Union Prep School mother Bronwyn Kingwill said the school had been SMSing parents since Friday when the dam was close to overflowing, saying the situation was being monitored “by the hour”.
Nieu Bethesda farmer Peet van Heerden said the rains had caused serious damage to infrastructure.
“We estimate that the damage to the various farms runs into millions of rand,” said Van Heerden, whose farm dam has burst. “It was a flash flood and knocked out all cellphone and landline communications.”
Cellphone reception was restored late yesterday, while landlines remained down.
By Brian Hayward
FLASH floods in the Karoo heartland at the weekend have caused millions of rands in damage to roads and dams, while disaster management officials are on high alert and ready to evacuate residents in low-lying areas.
In and around the historic town of Graaff-Reinet and nearby Nieu Bethesda, more than 100mm of rain fell in 24 hours on Saturday and Sunday. Some farmers reported 75mm falling in just 30 minutes – knocking out cellphone and landline communications, causing dams on farms to burst and tearing up dirt roads, rendering many areas inaccessible.
In Graaff-Reinet, police, disaster management and traffic officials are poised to evacuate residents in low-lying areas after the town‘s Nqweba Dam swelled to its highest level in more than 36 years yesterday. Disaster management officials said the dam, which lies above the town, rose to 116% capacity early yesterday morning – its highest level since devastating floods in 1974 – following weeks of rain in the area and heavy thunderstorms late on Saturday.
Extra police and traffic officials are on standby in case residents need to be evacuated – particularly the Huis Van De Graaff old age home and the Union High and Prep school hostels.
The area‘s disaster management head, Christopher Rhoode, said he had had about five hours of sleep the entire weekend. “It is very humid and it looks like more rain is on the way.”
Formerly Van Ryneveld‘s Dam, the Nqweba has only overflowed once since 1974, briefly – and mildly – three years ago.
Rhoode said a heavy downpour saw 70mm of rain fall on Saturday in the dam‘s catchment area of Nieu Bethesda. He said the SA Weather Service had warned of “unpredictable weather” over the summer season because of the La Nina weather phenomenon, which typically brings higher rainfall in the form of heavy downpours.
The dam is fed by the Sundays River and Gatsrivier and forms the Lower Sundays River, which runs around the town‘s historic centre.
Emergency services were on tenterhooks following the collapse from heavy rains of a major dam in the area, Coloniesplaas near Nieu Bethesda, earlier last week. The N2 between Graaff-Reinet and Middelburg also had to be closed due to flooding, but was reopened for the weekend.
Union Prep School mother Bronwyn Kingwill said the school had been SMSing parents since Friday when the dam was close to overflowing, saying the situation was being monitored “by the hour”.
Nieu Bethesda farmer Peet van Heerden said the rains had caused serious damage to infrastructure.“We estimate that the damage to the various farms runs into millions of rand,” said Van Heerden, whose farm dam has burst. “It was a flash flood and knocked out all cellphone and landline communications.”
Cellphone reception was restored late yesterday, while landlines remained down.
