GEORGE NEWS - The George municipal area experienced persistent, heavy downpours from late Tuesday afternoon that had not relented by the time of going to press at noon yesterday, Wednesday 6 May.

Locals, farmers and adventurers have been sharing videos and photos since daybreak yesterday, capturing spectacular waterfalls, rivers in flood, and - unfortunately - homes in informal settlements inundated by water. The heavy rains were expected - and they were certainly delivered.

A large tree in Acacia Road, Pacaltsdorp, crashed onto a home at about 10:00 on Wednesday morning, leaving a family destitute. Homeowner Rona Jantjies was lying on her bed when the tree came down, smashing through the roof and into her bedroom. Heavy rain poured into the house through the damaged roof. 

Jantjies shares the home with four others, including a baby and an adult who has suffered three strokes and is unable to care for herself. With assistance from Charl Gardener, who provided a TLB, some members of the Pacaltsdorp Men's Group quickly stepped in. The team managed to saw up and remove the tree by about 13:30, before beginning to clear the damage. The family was, however, still uncertain where they would spend the night.

By 09:00 on Wednesday, Uniondale had recorded 136mm, Waboomskraal 117mm, Herold Lovain 78.4mm, Wilderness 73mm, Witfontein 76mm and Jonkershoek 88.8mm. The Haarlem Dam that supplies Uniondale was spilling later during the morning.

The head of Garden Route Disaster Management, Gerhard Otto, said the Langkloof, Knysna and Bitou, where the rivers were flooding, were the worst affected. People in the Piesang River Valley in Bitou were evacuated and the infrastructure there had been damaged.

Otto said in George, the work that had been done on the stormwater system after the previous floods helped with the flow of the rainwater. "The stormwater structures are still holding and very few places in George are still at risk at this point. A lot of the water is already flowing down, and the maintenance that had been done is working well. No people were evacuated in George."

The rain was expected to continue for the rest of Wednesday and to clear up from midday today, 7 May.

SANParks began opening the mouth of the Touw River on Tuesday afternoon, following the arrival of an excavator on site yesterday afternoon. Photo: Marguerite van Ginkel

George Municipality reported that the heavy rains had caused water accumulation and the overflowing of stormwater systems in several low-lying areas of the CBD in George, and in Uniondale, several streets were also affected.

Although no major damage had been reported in George, several readers said on George Herald's Facebook page that their homes were flooded.

Kat river2 (to be used after Kat river1): The Kat River in full flow yesterday, Wednesday 6 May. These photos were taken a week apart from the balcony of Dyllan and Megan Hopewell in Denneoord.

Efforts to open the Touw River Mouth in Wilderness began on Tuesday afternoon as a precaution to prevent the flooding of low-lying properties on its banks.

George Municipality closed its vehicle testing stations until further notice due to operational difficulties, and its Planning and Development Directorate is operating with essential staff only until tomorrow, Friday 8 May. The Wilderness Tourism Office was closed to the public. The Western Cape Education Department closed all public and special needs schools in the affected circuits in the Garden Route and Eden district, including Circuit 3 and 8 schools in the George area.

SANParks temporarily closed the Garden Route National Park Wilderness Section for water-based recreational and hiking activities, but accommodation and camping remained open at the Ebb and Flow Rest Camp.

At Victoria Bay, the massive swell caused waves to reach over the access road and into the seafront homes. Photo: Garden Route District Municipality

Serpentine Road suffered some flood damage from Waves Circle (the turn-off into Serpentine) down to where 1st Avenue meets Serpentine, extending towards Lake Road. That section of the road has been closed off, and a contractor was soon on site to attend to the damage.

At the time of going to press, several areas were experiencing unplanned power interruptions, including the whole of Hansmoeskraal, Uniondale, Haarlem, Avontuur and Zone 9 in Thembalethu.

The N2 was also affected. Warnings were sent out to motorists after some sand and debris had collected on the route between Little and Great Brak River. In Knysna and Plettenberg Bay rain of up to 200mm was measured in areas by yesterday afternoon. By 09:00 yesterday morning Mossel Bay had received 20.6mm, Riversdale 20mm and Oudtshoorn 32.2 mm.

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