The Department of Water and Sanitation has urged communities along the Vaal Dam and Orange River to consider evacuating to high-lying areas as water levels continue to rise.
This after 12 floodgates were opened at the Vaal Dam, and outflow at the Bloemhof Dam has been increased to 3 000 cubic metres per second.
In a statement, the department said the residents of settlements and towns along the banks of the lower Vaal Dam and lower Orange River should consider evacuating or moving to higher places that are at least above the 1 in 20-year flood line (a level at which people would likely be safer to be reached by water emanating from the releases).
“These communities should refer to municipal development plans, local authorities and disaster management agencies for locations of these flood lines. The water release increases are necessitated by the continuous and intense rainfall that is causing rivers to overflow and dams to spill.”
The department also appealed to communities in the area to remain remain vigilant of possible flooding.
“Farmers are urged to remove livestock, movable properties and equipment out and away from the river banks,” said the department, further calling on communities to avoid any activity that might put their lives in harm’s way.
“The Vaal Dam and Orange River system is experiencing rapidly rising water levels due to the heavy rains and the department continues to assess and implement measures to mitigate the effects of these floods on its infrastructure and guarantee full capacity on its storage reservoirs after the rainfall season.
“Since rainfall and floods are a natural phenomenon and therefore control of the events may be limited, the department advises against putting essential services and human settlements within parts of the flood plains where there is the likelihood of frequent flooding that is within a 1 in 100-year flood line.”
For more news from Sunday World, click here.
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter and @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here for the latest breaking news in South Africa. To Subscribe to Sunday World, click here
