Briefing the media on Thursday, the disaster risk reduction manager at Saws, Tshepho Ngobeni, warned residents in the said districts to heed the warning.
“Very heavy rainfall in the order of 200mm to 400mm is possible, and this may result in widespread significant flooding. While it is slightly lesser in Mpumalanga, the significant flooding that occurred over the Lowveld and escarpment areas in the last few weeks may be catastrophic and cause prolonged and severe impacts as the ground is saturated.”
Although not as much rain is expected over other places in the north-eastern parts, Ngobeni urged residents of the Capricorn district in Limpopo, as well as Umkhanyakude, Zululand and Amajuba in KwaZulu-Natal to be vigilant as any amount of rainfall could be worsened by recent flooding events in these places.
In addition to heavy rains, strong winds caused by Freddy are also expected in the northeastern parts of the country from Friday evening, with average speeds of about 45km/h.
He said the Saws was working closely with stakeholders and partners to reduce disaster risk.
“Yesterday we briefed the National Joint Flood Coordination Committee. This provided us with an opportunity to brief National Disaster Management Centre and sector departments regarding the latest information and guidance regarding Freddy.”
“We, in consultation with national and provincial disaster management structures, continue to monitor developments around the clock and will issue regular updates in this regard, across a variety of media and social media platforms.”
sibiyan@sowetan.co.za
Extremely wet weekend expected for northeastern SA
Possible floods, strong winds caused by Freddy also predicted
Tropical cyclone Freddy is expected to hit Limpopo and Mpumalanga on Friday, worsening flooding in the already tragedy-stricken provinces.
An alert was issued by the SA Weather Service (Saws) on Thursday, warning of destructive rains and winds that can cause more flooding in those provinces .
The affected districts are Vhembe and Mopani in Limpopo, and to a lesser extent, parts of Mpumalanga’s Lowveld region.
For the past two weeks, heavy rains have wreaked havoc in this northeastern part of SA, leading to deaths, damage to infrastructure, and continued search and rescue operations for those believed to have been swept away during the floods.
The Saws said the worst was not over for these provinces as cyclone Freddy regained its strength on Wednesday night as it moved into the Mozambique channel and was expected to last in the provinces until Monday.
Briefing the media on Thursday, the disaster risk reduction manager at Saws, Tshepho Ngobeni, warned residents in the said districts to heed the warning.
“Very heavy rainfall in the order of 200mm to 400mm is possible, and this may result in widespread significant flooding. While it is slightly lesser in Mpumalanga, the significant flooding that occurred over the Lowveld and escarpment areas in the last few weeks may be catastrophic and cause prolonged and severe impacts as the ground is saturated.”
Although not as much rain is expected over other places in the north-eastern parts, Ngobeni urged residents of the Capricorn district in Limpopo, as well as Umkhanyakude, Zululand and Amajuba in KwaZulu-Natal to be vigilant as any amount of rainfall could be worsened by recent flooding events in these places.
In addition to heavy rains, strong winds caused by Freddy are also expected in the northeastern parts of the country from Friday evening, with average speeds of about 45km/h.
He said the Saws was working closely with stakeholders and partners to reduce disaster risk.
“Yesterday we briefed the National Joint Flood Coordination Committee. This provided us with an opportunity to brief National Disaster Management Centre and sector departments regarding the latest information and guidance regarding Freddy.”
“We, in consultation with national and provincial disaster management structures, continue to monitor developments around the clock and will issue regular updates in this regard, across a variety of media and social media platforms.”
sibiyan@sowetan.co.za