Four people who were trapped in a house on Wednesday night at Grootvlei Farm in the Loxton area near Beaufort West due to flooding, have been rescued and taken to the hospital, while 64 people from Namibia remain stranded in Oudtshoorn after being cut off by floodwaters.
The rescue comes as the Western Cape government continues its multi-disciplinary response to severe weather conditions that have battered several parts of the province since the weekend.
Dr Wayne Smith from the provincial department of health and wellness said authorities received reports on Wednesday evening of a family of four stranded at a farm about 20km outside Beaufort West.
“The metro rescue team from Beaufort West immediately deployed, but because of the risks associated with crossing some of the rivers, it was deemed unsafe,” Smith said.
“Fortunately, they managed to make contact with the family this morning and found a way to reach them.”
The four were rescued on Thursday morning and transported to Beaufort West Hospital for medical assessment.
On Thursday, the Western Cape government provided an update on the co-ordinated disaster response following days of heavy rain and flooding across the province.
On Sunday, the South African Weather Service issued warnings of severe weather conditions affecting parts of the Western Cape, particularly the Overberg, Garden Route, Central Karoo and Cape Winelands districts.
Since then, 128 schools have been closed, four clinics in Knysna have been damaged and one government employee has died.
Collin Deiner, chief director for Disaster Management and Fire & Rescue Services in the Western Cape, said officials were still trying to access the 64 Namibian nationals stranded in Oudtshoorn.
“They are all fine. It is just a matter of getting them through the flooded areas,” he said.
Deiner added that there had also been displacement of residents in Prince Albert, while more than 400 people across four municipalities had been accommodated in community halls and churches.
At the school level, deputy director-general Alan Meyer said some schools remained closed in five education circuits because flooding had made areas inaccessible.
“The infrastructure damage at this stage is still very minimal because our staff are basically not able to get out to the schools because of the roads being flooded,” he said.
Meyer said the department was aware that a tree had fallen onto a mobile classroom at Avontuur LB Primary School.
“There is also a hostel where the roof blew off, and parents are moving the pupils. Our contractor should be on site today to conduct a damage assessment,” he said.
He added that several requests had come from the Ladismith and Karoo regions, where roads had become too dangerous for scholar transport.
“Transporting pupils on wet gravel roads is a high risk, and we will not allow buses to travel on those roads with our pupils,” Meyer said.
Among the affected areas was the Beacon Island Resort, which experienced flooding, although authorities said water levels were subsiding. A temporary evacuation was also carried out near the Keurbooms River informal settlement.
TimesLIVE
Yoliswa Sobuwa
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