Flash floods leaving many homeless, penniless and in critical condition.
Flash floods in Johannesburg over the past two days has caused havoc, panic and left many people destitute. Lifelong belongings were destroyed in a blink of an eye. The floods that lashed Joburg and Ekurhuleni on Wednesday left a trail of destruction, with at least six people killed, dozens of vehicles swept away and dwellings damaged. Several people were recovering in hospital after they were injured. The flooding, and its impact, was described by police as nothing short of a disaster. On Wednesday night, Joburg metro police department spokesperson Edna Mamonyane said the situation on the roads was a disaster. “A truck went into nine cars on the N3 and four people were killed. We’ve had to rescue hundreds of people from the water, we are hoping the waters will go down so that we can continue our efforts,” she said. “People have had to climb out of their cars and stand on roofs because the water was at window level. This is a bad, bad situation,” she added.
After thorough assessments by SARCS Disaster Management Team, the following were identified as immediate needs of people in temporary shelters: food, blankets, hygiene materials, baby hygiene packs and psycho social support, supply of mosquito/beds nets. The medium to long-term needs include houses reconstruction and rehabilitation of roads and other socio-economic infrastructures, livelihood restoration and recovery. These will be covered by the South African Government. On Saturday, with the assistance from Shoprite and SARCS Volunteers, toiletries for adults and children were distributed and clothes and shoes were handed out on Sunday the 13thof November to 3000 community members which consisted of men, women and children. Hope Crosses Any Terrain initiative by Land Rover South Africa assisted in aiding the most vulnerable in the Alexandra township (Johannesburg) Section 19.
