South Africa: Extreme Weather Warnings Renewed for Eastern Cape As Efforts to Help Flood Victims Continue

Children play in water which flooded Shukushuma in Nelson Mandela Bay over the weekend.
analysis

As dam levels rise in the drought-stricken Eastern Cape, the South African Weather Office has issued a second warning for disruptive rain this week for the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro and Kouga Local Municipality. Meanwhile, residents of Buffalo City, Port St Johns and some inland areas are still cleaning up following floods over the weekend.

A renewed warning for disruptive rain was issued for Wednesday night and Thursday for Nelson Mandela Bay and Kouga, as authorities grappled with more than a thousand people in the two municipalities who had been displaced by heavy rain over the weekend.

Garth Sampson from the South African Weather Office said the weekend's rain was the highest four-day total since 2012. The region has been gripped by debilitating drought for the past eight years. He warned that disruptive rain was expected again on Wednesday.

Rienette Colesky of the Gamtoos Irrigation Board said levels in the Kouga Dam, the largest in the Algoa Water system, had increased to 15.75% after the rains, and as water was still flowing into the dam, levels were expected to rise to around 19%.

One of the smaller dams in the system providing water to Nelson Mandela Bay, the Loerie Dam, is now at 101.39% and the Groendal Dam in Kariega (formerly Uitenhage) has increased from 16.9% to 69.25%. The Impofu Dam, which was empty, is now at 6.79% and the Churchill Dam is at 26.09%.

As rain clouds gathered over the Bay, Gift of the Givers teams on Wednesday raced...

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