The Nelson Mandela Bay Metro Mayor (NMB), Retief Odendaal says the heavy rains that the province is currently experiencing, are a welcome relief from an almost decade-long drought.
Floods
He however, lamented the subsequent flooding that has led to scores of people being displaced and hundreds evacuated by the municipality from flooded homes.
Roads in some areas are said to be closed due to fallen trees and flooding.
Odendaal says while there have been good rains; they are not enough to break the drought.
“We have been grappling with an 8-year long extended drought, so we’re very thankful for the rain, but we’ve seen about 150mm of rain in certain areas in Nelson Mandela Bay over the past 48 hours, and that has led to some localised flooding, and certain communities have been adversely affected. We have been to a number of informal settlements; Kwazakhele has been badly affected. There is a joint operations centre that has been established to deal with these issues and our officials have been on the ground. We’ve heard that there were some good rains in the catchment areas, unfortunately it’s not going to be enough to break this drought,” he adds.
Families displaced
The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality says about 11 families were displaced following flooding caused by heavy rains.
More than 200 people have been evacuated from Motherwell and Kwazakhele, with some roads closed.
The Municipality’s acting Director of Safety and Security, Warren Prins says those affected are being accommodated in community halls, with more people still being evacuated.