53 rescued in PE floods
2006-08-03 07:23
Port Elizabeth - Over 50 people were rescued from floodwaters in Port Elizabeth in the early hours of Thursday, said National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) spokesperson Craig Lambinon.
Among them was a woman who escaped rising water by climbing into a tree after her car was washed off a bridge on Wednesday night.
National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) station commander, Ian Gray, said on Thursday someone saw her car disappear into the Bakkens river and alerted the local fire department.
"She managed to get out of her car but she couldn't get out of the flow of the river. She held on to the tree for more than an hour," said Gray.
The 40-year-old motorist appeared to have suffered from hypothermic shock when NSRI rescue swimmers reached her.
"Her core temperature was down," said Gray.
She was taken to Greenacres Hospital.
Gray said rescue teams, with police divers, later saved two men trapped on the roof of a car surrounded by the raging waters of the Chetty river, also in the Eastern Cape city.
A further 52 people were rescued from shacks damaged by rising water in early hours of Thursday.
The NSRI also helped to bring a horse to safety.
More rain was expected over the city.
"We are not looking forward to more rain now," Gray said.
"We rescued one horse, another is still stranded," he said.
A number of houses had also been flooded, he said.
Lambinon said the NSRI also helped a emergency joint operation centre in Port Elizabeth to bring animals to safety.
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- SAPA