GEORGE NEWS - If the Touw River mouth had been opened before the heavy rains fell last Tuesday, 9 April, the flooding at Pirates Creek Self Catering Accomodation in Die Duin Street and other properties along the river banks in South Street and Anchorage Lane in Wilderness, could have been avoided.
This is the opinion of one of the residents and property owners at Pirates Creek, Sacha Buchanan, who has lived in the area for 23 years.
"When the mouth is open, we don't flood." She said the worst part of last week's flood was the scariness, not knowing how high the water is going to rise.
Buchanan's sentiments about the flood and the river mouth is shared by George Municipality. The management of the Touw River estuary falls under the jurisdiction of South African National Parks (SANParks).
Delay in opening
A municipal press release shared at 11:00 on Tuesday 9 April stated point blank that flooding had been reported along the Touw River due to a delay in the opening of the Touw River mouth.
"The requests to SANParks from the municipality to open the Touw River mouth in mitigation of the predicted heavy rain and potential for flooding were denied," said municipal spokesperson Chantèl Edwards.
"George Disaster Management Services was eventually notified that the opening of the river mouth had been started at 06:37 on 9 April.
"Experienced senior officials of the George Municipality Disaster Management Services liaised with the relevant SANParks official/s, being the authorised authority, from Saturday 6 April to Tuesday 9 April via telephone and WhatsApp, informing and provided relevant information on rainfall predictions and flood expectations."
Edwards said officials of the George Disaster Management Services photographed the water level at Southside Street in Wilderness between 06:20 and 06:30, which rose almost 200mm within 10 minutes.
Guests at Pirates Creek had to cancel their braai plans last week Tuesday 9 April. A canoe of Eden Adventures is seen stuck under the railway bridge.
SANParks
Park manager of the Wilderness Section of the Garden Route National Park Dr Sandra Taljaard gave a detailed explanation on why the river mouth was not opened earlier.
The following is a summary of her feedback:
Strict protocol and legislation need to be adhered to when an estuary of river mouth is artificially breached. Unnatural breaching can have a negative effect on the physical and biological functioning of the entire lake system.
Since Friday 5 April, Level 4 weather warnings were issued with a rainfall prediction of 20 to 40mm, and up to 60mm of rain over the extreme eastern parts of the Garden Route. The weather warning for the areas around the Cape Metropole and parts of the Winelands and Overberg regions was Level 9, and thus far more severe.
In reality, the amount of rain that fell on 9 April from 00:00 to the early morning hours in the Touw River catchment area was far more severe, with 167% more rain than initially predicted, in a much shorter time. Breaching was undertaken to manage the higher than expected water run-off as efficiently as possible.
It was done during the receding spring high tide, which is the preferable time according to the guiding principles. "If the mouth had been opened during the spring high tide [04:00], and the sea deposited sediment back into the mouth, it could have reduced the rate of outflow of runoff water to the sea and potentially increased the water level in the estuary," said Taljaard.
"This could have caused more severe flooding on the estuarine floodplain as the higher water level in the estuary caused by the incoming tide would have been met by the large volume of water rushing down from the catchment. Breaching was thus timed to maximise the outflow of water."
Floating furniture at Pirates Creek last week Tuesday, during the flooding.
Disaster management
Disaster manager of Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM) Gerhard Otto said GRDM is not directly involved in communications and requests by George Municipality to SANParks. "My initial awareness of these discussions occurred on Tuesday morning, 9 April, when the head of the Provincial Disaster Centre contacted me," said Otto.
"He relayed that the George Fire Chief had sought his assistance to coordinate with SANParks regarding the estuary's breaching. Subsequently, I reached out to Dr Taljaard, who confirmed that the estuary had already been opened earlier that morning, and the water levels were receding."
He said emergency breaching procedures for the Touw River are generally undertaken when water levels reach between 1,6 and 2,4 metres above mean sea level (AMSL). "In this instance, the breaching took place at 1,58 metres AMSL, following higher-than-expected rainfall readings from SANParks' gauges in the catchment area."
Otto concurred with Taljaard's comment on the level warnings. "The context of this incident must be looked at within the broader weather conditions. The South African Weather Service issued a level 4 warning for the Garden Route, unlike the more severe level 9 warnings for the Cape Metropole and parts of the Winelands and Overberg regions.
"Additionally, the cut-off low (COL) progressed eastward faster than anticipated by SAWS, accompanied by gale-force winds and significant sea swells. These factors necessitated precise timing for the estuary's opening to mitigate the risk of sea water intrusion and potential flooding from the sea."
Guests at Pirates Creek had to break a window to leave the property last week Tuesday 9 April.
Downpour and spring high
Another resident and owner of Eden Adventures, Chris Leggatt, said he doesn't think opening the river mouth would have made a huge difference. "We were expecting high water, I did not expect it to come as fast as it did," said Leggatt.
"The combination of over 200mm of rain with the incoming spring high tide at 04:00, had a large impact. Even if the river mouth was open, I don't believe the result would have been any different."
Leggatt said he could physically see the water levels rise. "By the time I got to the office, about 22 canoes had washed away. We paddled downstream and collected all but one canoe that hasn't been recovered."
Rising water levels
Buchanan, who manages nine of the properties at Pirates Creek, said she went into an adrenaline and panic mode, because of the fast speed with which the water came in.
"Previous floods came in slowly, so we could anticipate what would happen. This time, we woke up in darkness, early, at 05:00, and it already started flooding. Our gate was closed, we had to open it, wading through water. The fear was about not being able to get out, and that one will be stranded in Pirates Creek."
Buchanan said members of the Nasional Sea Rescue Institute and emergency services did assist them, and reasured them that they will be there. "They kept checking in on us," she said.
Appart from a malfunctioning pool pump and gate motor, as well as some electrical works which had been drenched, there is no major damage at Buchanan's properties.
Legal matters
Regarding the distribution of responsibilities and potential legal ramifications, Taljaard said SANParks cannot stop the residents should they see the need to take legal action. "The weather occurrence over the mentioned periods above was not restricted to the Touw River catchment but was widespread across the coastline of the Western Cape and adjacent areas, where widespread flooding and damage was also recorded," she said.
Otto said it's important to note that the GRDM Disaster Management Centre (DMC) has fulfilled its legal obligations by conveying early warnings to the local municipality and response agencies. "George Municipality, in particular, has assumed responsibility for alerting residents. They have declined to provide the GRDM DMC with property ownership data."
"The management of the Touw River estuary falls under the jurisdiction of SANParks.
Following prior incidents, GRDM DMC recommended formalising a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the George Municipality and SANParks, akin to the agreement with Knysna Municipality for the Swartvlei estuary. It remains unclear if this MOU has been finalised."
The water level rose to just above the braai (middle) and touched the deck of this chalet. The guests had to climb out of a window on the other side.
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