GEORGE NEWS - When the clouds opened up on Monday, Georgians were reminded of the flash flood a mere fortnight ago on 22 November, that caused widespread damage to property and infrastructure all over the Southern Cape.
George Municipality submitted a request for just over R750-million in relief funding to the Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM) on Monday 6 December.
"This does not only include direct relief for flood damage remedial works, but also a funding request to alleviate circumstances in vulnerable areas to prevent future damage due to disaster and exceptional events," said George municipal spokesperson Chantel Edwards-Klose.
"Garden Route District Municipality will forward the request to the Western Cape Provincial Government for review and establishing whether a disaster is to be called or not."
The breakdown for George's relief funding request is as follows: Go George public bus transport infrastructure damage R359 983; Civil Infrastructure (water, sanitation, roads, storm water, rivers, clearing of debris) R311 671 422; Electrical Infrastructure R17 700 000 and Human Settlements (damage to existing / prevention against future damage) R422 231 710.
The spot where the road gave way on the R404 is close to Terblanche Transport (TT), in the section between TT and the entrance to the George Airport. TT, the Elvis Brew Coffee Shop and a nearby nursery are still open for business and accessible from the N2. Photo: Bernie Stander (T&T Concrete)
District Disaster Manager Gerhard Otto said earlier this week that the damages to roads in the districts amount to R15,7-million. This figure excludes the damage to the storm water structure on the R404 (near the George Airport) and the damages that occurred after last weekend's rain.
Knysna and Oudtshoorn municipalities still need to complete their damage assessments. In Oudtshoorn the damage to road infrastructure amounts to R3-million, excluding damages after last weekend's rainfall. Bitou Municipality reported no damages.
Otto said the damage verification will be conducted by a team from the Provincial Disaster Management Centre, provincial sector departments, staff from the GRDM Disaster Management Centre and local municipalities. It is expected to be finalised by today, Friday 10 December.
According to Bernie Stander of T&T Concrete, there was a hole in a storm water pipe under the R404 which, during the flood on 22 November, caused a swirling effect when the water came down and produced a sink hole under the road surface. Photo: Bernie Stander (T&T Concrete)
Roads
Two roads in the George area under the jurisdiction of the Department of Transport and Public Works (DTPW) were severely damaged. A section of Madiba Drive (Saasveld Road) caved in due to failure of Armco structures*, while a similar situation exists on the R404 (MR347 between TR2/9 and the N2) which leads to the airport.
Exact timelines are not yet known for when these two roads will be reopened, said Jandré Bakker, DTPW spokesperson.
"These roads are closed, and we urge all road users to always heed road closure signs and to avoid these areas while they are being repaired," said Bakker. "Teams are working hard to repair the roads where possible, but extensive sub-layer work makes these technical projects and not a simple refilling.
"The GRDM is already on site doing repairs on MR347 (the section between TR2/9 and Herold's Bay). The Saasveld project is a larger-scale initiative."
The exact spot (red dot) where the sink hole occurred on the R404 is situated between the entrance to the George Airport and Terblanche Transport (TT).
An Armco culvert is a drainage structure under the road surfaces. In the unlikely event that such an Armco structure fails, it creates a weakness in the road structure which could lead to the erosion of the layers in the road pavement.
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