More than 1 200 Gqeberha residents in Nelson Mandela Bay in the Eastern Cape have been evacuated to places of safety after their homes were destroyed by heavy rains at the weekend.
Together with stakeholders, the metro has activated a joint operating centre to respond to reports of flooding across the city including in Jachvlate, Motherwell, New Brighton, KwaZakhele, Edongweni, Airport Valley and Red Location.
The metro’s safety and security portfolio head, Lawrence Troon, said the municipality is more concerned about KwaZakhele, as a number of streets in that area have been badly affected by the heavy rains.
“More than 1 200 residents had to be evacuated from their homes due to flooding,” said Troon.
“We want to thank all our stakeholders including the SAPS [SA Police Service] and Spar in Daku and New Brighton, who joined hands with us and helped during this time.
“We will continue to monitor the situation, thankfully the rain has stopped for now.”
The Gift of the Givers has also been assisting with hot meals while the metro’s disaster management has been supplying blankets to keep the affected families warm.
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