Alison Bevage, Zara Nicholson and Bronwyne Jooste
15 November 2008
Carl Opperman of Agri-SA says there is no doubt farmers will have lost billions of rands.
Opperman spoke of one farmer in Olifantsberg region, near the Breede River, who said rivers near his farm had reached their highest levels in 40 years.
The damage had spread throughout the province.
Barley and wheat farms as well as vineyards had been washed away. One wine farmer's initial estimates stood around R3-million.
"Farmers are telling us these are the worst floods since those in Montagu of 1981. This is going to test our resources, but we have to pull ourselves together," said Opperman.
The SA National Roads Agency has already started repairing roads where possible. And Eskom was also trying to address disrupted electricity supplies. In some areas, electricity poles were strewn across the roads.
Residents said a bridge in Touws River had collapsed and Ero Consulting Engineer N1 route manager Stephen McGregor had bad news for traffic hoping the N1 would re-open on Friday. He said the road had been eroded and there were cavities beneath the surface.
Any truck trying to cross may cause the road to collapse. "It's not safe so far," he said.
Before it can be re-opened the waters need to drain and the road must be shored up.
On Friday Marcelle Adams of Eskom said technicians were hard at work trying to restore electricity to Worcester.
In Mossel Bay communities were left without power as technicians were forced to wait for the water levels to subside.
Disaster management head in the Overberg District Reinhard Geldenhuys said no serious incidents were reported.
A group of 17 boys and two adults had asked to be evacuated by helicopter while on a hike in Greyton but later managed to find their own way out.
The Breede River reached its highest levels, according to the department of Water Affairs and Forestry.
Other rivers in flood include Riviersonderend River, Suurbrak at the Buffelsjags river holiday resort, Bot River and Onrust River.
The Theewaterskloof dam was 106 percent full and overflowing. So was the Buffelsjags dam.
The municipality said Genadendal, Greyton, Swellendam and areas next to the Breede River were the main areas of concern.
The Cape Town weather office said no heavy rains were expected in the Western and Northern Cape over the weekend.
Areas that recorded the highest levels of rain in the last three days were Worcester, Grabouw, Robertson, Hermanus, Mossel Bay and Knysna.
On the Hex River farm Modderdrift farm workers' homes were swamped window-high with mud.
Matriculant Nicolene Links, 18, said the Hex River had burst its banks after a dam wall broke.
"The water was waist-high and people were very scared and they cried when they saw what the water had done to their homes."
Touws River residents Joanie Jantjies, 38, and Roseline Van As, 52, said a pregnant woman had to be rescued by boat on Thursday night as she went into labour and could not cross the road.
The wall of the nearby Verkeerdevlei dam was breached leaving a 40m gap in the wall on Thursday night - prompting further fears for the town and for more than 1 000 people stranded at the edge of the flooded N1.
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