Africa-Press – South-Africa. Some Alexandra residents are concerned that their houses might collapse if the heavy rains that have lashed parts of the country continue for much longer.
On Friday, some parts of south and west Gauteng were flooded as the rain continued to pour.
A man from Florida had to climb a tree to seek refuge as the water rose, while an 88-year-old woman in Naledi, Soweto, had to be rescued after her house’s wall collapsed.
The rain and reports of flooding has residents living along the Jukskei River in Alexandra on edge.
“We are close to the river. When it rains, some people’s houses collapse. We are scared,” a resident who asked to remain anonymous said
Pointing to the pool of water just a few metres away from her house, she said: “When it rains, all that water comes back here [pointing to her doorstep].”
“Sometimes you wake, and the water is inside the house.”
She said she feared for those with houses close to the river, as they could collapse at any moment because of the constant rain.
“These houses are about to fall. If you can look at the other side, some of the houses have fallen already, and you can see all the gaps that are now left. It’s not looking good.”
Reflecting on the rain that had devastated the area a few days earlier, she said had been upsetting to witness the fast-flowing water gushing through narrow passages of the closely built homes.
The resident said:
She said the only thing currently saving them was the piles of bricks that people had dumped close to the edge of the river, which helped to limit the amount of water that ended up in homes.
However, that was not enough to stop the water from flowing in, she said.
Another resident said: “The rainfall is ongoing, and we are not safe. Some children play around the river, and next thing, they will fall in there.
“These are kids; you can’t tell them nothing.”
Another resident said:
A woman who went home for the holidays in December last year and returned to find her house flooded said she had to build a stoep around her house to keep rainwater out.
“Everything was destroyed. I don’t want the same thing to happen, so this is my solution,” she said, adding that even with the stoep, she did not feel safe because the water levels were sometimes high.
“At some point, this does not help at all.”
The South African Weather Services has warned of more rain.
Forecaster Ishmael Moyo said there was a 30% chance of rain in the entire country on Saturday.
“We will expect showers and thundershowers over the central parts of the country, as well as the western interior, with some wide spread of showers and thundershowers,” he said.
He has warned of severe thunderstorms in the southwestern parts of the country on Saturday and damaging winds along the southwest coast.
He added that these wet conditions would continue until Sunday.
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