Rain causes chaos in Gauteng
2009-02-05 08:42
Daniëlla du Plooy, Amanda Roestoff and Jan-Hendrik Coetzer
Johannesburg - Heavy rain caused chaos on Gauteng roads on Wednesday, as more rain was forecast for Thursday and Friday.
In parts of Johannesburg and Pretoria, rain poured down for over an hour and several roads and bridges were flooded and closed down.
The Klein Jukskei River in the north of Johannesburg was one of many that flooded its banks.
"This river was for the first time in recent history in full flood," said Nick Dollman, Netcare 911 spokesperson. "Where it used to be about 20m wide, it was (on Wednesday), 60m to 80m."
It was reported last week that Mark Honiball, 35, and his six-year-old daughter were swept away in their 4x4 by the same river.
Caution urged
Dollman cautioned motorists to be careful when driving in this area and when they went up close to have a look.
"Rather stay away from the edge of the river as the ground can give way because it is so."
In Garsfontein, to the east of Pretoria, 80mm rain fell during the course of the day, while 70mm fell in Lynnwood and 80mm fell in Villiera.
In Eldoraigne, Centurion, 30mm of rain fell and Sinoville recorded 100mm between 09:45 and 12:00 and another 27mm until 17:00.
Heavy rain in Gezina, Pretoria, caused parts of Voortrekker Road and HF Verwoerd Drive, where they intersect with Hertzog Road, to be submerged with water.
Motorist Corrie van Staden said conditions were so bad that most of the cars had to turn around and take other routes.
He also said several of the cars stopped in flooded water under the Gezina underpass bridge.
"I saw three metro police bakkies drive through the floodwater, after which they simply drove off without doing anything about the traffic situation."
Van Staden said by 13:00 it was only raining a bit and the water under the bridge was washed away. Traffic then returned to normal.
Alternative routes
In Johannesburg, three side streets in the western suburbs of Fairland and Berario had to be closed by police due to a sudden shower of rain.
The Fairland police station requested the public to drive more carefully in the area of 1st Avenue, Arizona Close and King's Avenue (Windsor West), which crosses the Fairland cemetery, as the Braamfonteinstpruit, which flows down from the northern suburbs, had burst its banks.
In Strijdom Park, the Arbeidlaan bridge was flooded and in Greymont, a low water bridge at Alberts Farm on the corner of 5th Street and Sixth Avenue East, was completely submerged by water and over a metre deep.
Motorists were advised to take alternative roads.
Police announced by late on Wednesday that "rivers were subsiding" and that it was not necessary to close Beyers Naudé Avenue.
The South African Weather Service did not yet have statistics for Wednesday's rain in Johannesburg but said 24,2mm of rain had fallen on Tuesday and that it was expected that Wednesday's rainfall would be "much more".
Tshwane metro police closed the following roads on Wednesday:
- The McKenzie Street turn-off to the N1 in Menlo Park
- Zambesi Drive between Koorsboom and Vinko Street in Sinoville
- Die intersection of De Beer and Mance Street in Wonderboom South
- Atterbury and Lynnwood Roads? turn-off to the N1
- The corner of Amandelboom and Dr Swanepoel Street in Montana
- The corner of Dr Willem Cruywagen and Sylvia Street.