Floods leave communities in shambles
“All we prayed for was the safety of the children, and luckily everyone was checking on each other and we were safe, but the aftermath is unbearable.”
These were the words of Rawsonville resident Matheko Mohobo, a 53-year-old mother of three, who said her family and community lost most of their possessions when their homes were flooded during the recent bad weather that caused damage across the province.
Mohobo said the aftermath was far-reaching and the affected families were trying to rebuild their lives.
Recalling the weekend of the floods, Mahobo said she was woken by a loud knock at her door in the morning.
“I was sleeping and a guy who is a neighbour woke me up to alert me to what was happening outside. He wanted to borrow a shovel because the water was fast entering his shack,” she said.
“I was still disoriented but noticed that my feet were also in the water.
I reached for the window and it was pouring.
“My car, which I had parked outside, was submerged in water. By this time, my other neighbours had started to gather at my house bringing their children to me for safety because their homes were completely flooded. My place was now overcrowded with panicked children who were scared for their safety and concerned about their parents.
“By this time, my shack was also starting to get flooded. I was panicking and not knowing what to take and what to leave, but again, where was I going to go because the water was becoming high?”
The unemployed mother said they were stranded, wet and cold.
“The water inside became so high that even the wardrobe was almost submerged, but luckily I had stored the important documents on the top shelf.
When the rain subsided we would try to push as much water out as possible.
“Everyone was affected and there are about 300 families here. It was just a sad state and everyone was scrambling to save whatever they could,” she said.
“Every winter we get worried because we know that trouble is brewing and it's sad.
“The children have not been to school ever since. Most children lost books and everything, elderly people are sick and we don't have food or anything.”
In McGregor, residents including farmers and their employees said they were cut off for more than a week because roads were damaged.
According to community leader Maria Kraukamp, residents were not able to move in or out of the area, with no access to shops, fuel, electricity or ATMs.
“On Monday when it started pouring, it was flooded everywhere. We took everyone out because their homes were flooded. Even the farmers are still suffering from the after-effects of the adverse weather, roads are damaged, and you can't even go to town. Some old people lost a lot, some people lost everything. The whole week we couldn't go out of McGregor,” she said.
“In my 50 years as a community leader, this is the worst I have ever seen. It's emotional. A community of more than 10 000 residents including farmers in shambles.”
Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning MEC Anton Bredell’s spokesperson, Wouter Kriel, said the province was working hard to clear roads, with humanitarian work continuing in affected communities including McGregor.
“In the Overstrand region, work in Hermanus to stabilise the water network with temporary solutions is continuing, but this will ultimately require a large and long-term rebuilding of infrastructure.
“In response to the flooding incidents of September 2023, which severely affected the McGregor area in the Langeberg Municipality, among other areas, Cape Winelands District Municipality initiated the implementation of response measures in terms of rendering humanitarian relief to the affected people. Cape Winelands District Municipality and Langeberg Municipality had engagements to discuss the possible ways of providing immediate humanitarian relief to the people of McGregor, especially in the farm areas, where communities have been cut off and unable to access the services,” he said.
The province said that it had been working round the clock to reopen roads. Some mop-up operations were taking longer because of the extent of the damage.
Infrastructure MEC Tertius Simmers urged residents to be patient and not to disregard road closure signs.
“The safety of commuters and road users remains a key priority of the Western Cape government. Having personally visited some of the damaged road infrastructure, I can attest that at first glance, some of these roads appear to be in good condition. However, much of the damage is beneath the surface of the road. In one instance the entire support structure under a lane was completely washed out, which means it is just a layer of asphalt/tar keeping the road up,” he said.
Cape Times
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