The impact of severe weather conditions in SA ahead of winter [VIDEO]

South Africa enters the cold winter season, weathering severe conditions that have been hitting the country like a storm, following the release of a level 2 warning from the South African Weather Services (Saws). Around 70 residents remain stranded without food in De Vlugt, George, as the influx of rainfall has caused the river water to overflow and prevented further movement in and out of the area. Communities in Mossel Bay are facing high volumes of water passing through river mouths despite pre-emptive preparations in anticipation of weather predictions.

While evacuations are underway in Gamtoos Valley, the Kouga dam has officially exceeded capacity. Weather conditions have also left around 70 people in De Vlugt, George, stranded, while the Keurbooms River is seen flowing strongly as water levels rise due to the heavy rainfall over the last few days. They have requested food supplies through the Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM) Multi-Agency Command Centre (MACC) and indicated that they do not wish to evacuate at this stage.

According to the GRDM Fire Chief, Deon Stoffels, the Western Cape Provincial Government will assist the affected residents in the area by providing a helicopter to transport the food supplies to the affected residents. The Kouga Dam has officially exceeded full capacity and currently sits at 113%, which poses a serious risk to surrounding communities in the area. Residents in the following areas have been requested to evacuate immediately to ensure safety: The Kouga Municipality has strongly advised agricultural farmers to urgently relocate livestock, farming equipment, machinery and vehicles to safer areas, to avoid severe flood damage. Residents are advised to avoid all river crossings and flooded roads as emergency teams remain on high alert and are requested to cooperate with all evacuation instructions.