The heavy downpours over Nelson Mandela Bay on Thursday and Friday drove at least 150 residents from their homes in Motherwell, but the metro said the rains would not be sufficient to relieve the effects of the crippling drought.
With high rainfall figures measured in the city by Friday morning, the municipality warned of localised flooding on several roads.
By 2pm on Friday, the highest rainfall had been measured at the Van Stadens Wildflower Reserve outside Port Elizabeth, with 47mm of rain.
Other areas with high rainfall included the Third Avenue dip (37,6mm), Fettes Road in North End (37mm), Port Elizabeth International Airport (36,6mm) and Uitenhage (35,8mm).By early afternoon, residents of Ramaphosa Village in Motherwell NU1 had abandoned their shacks due to flood damage caused by the heavy rain.
The stranded residents gathered at the Ramaphosa Community Hall to seek shelter and help from the municipality.
Ntathu Mathyumela, 75, who lives with her four-yearold granddaughter, said her shack was damaged, with everything inside destroyed.
“The damage started with my leaking roof,” she said.
“The leaks became worse this morning. I tried to take out the water, but the rain was too much and flooded the shack.”
She said her belongings and electrical appliances were damaged by the rain.
“I don’t know what is going to happen, [or] where we are going to sleep if nothing is done for us. We are stranded.”
Lindiwe Mthi, 35, said she had lost everything in her house.
“At 4am I woke up and the rain was too much. The roof started leaking and eventually [my shack] was half-full of water,” she said.
Municipal spokesperson Kupido Baron said the metro would assess the needs of the residents, along with residents of other communities that could be affected.“The contingency plan for areas affected is that they will be assessed on a case-by-case basis, and assisted should the assessment warrant it.”
Baron said the damage was a result of pools of water being formed after the rainfall, with inadequate storm water runoff in new settlements and blocked storm water drains contributing to the problem.“We had numerous call-outs and handed out blankets, mattresses and foodstuff to some affected residents.”
The South African Weather Service said the rain in the Bay would clear up on Saturday.
Forecaster Deon van der Mescht said the rain was expected to move northwards over the interior of the province, with an expected maximum temperature of 18°C forecast for Saturday.
Van der Mescht said the rainfall in the catchment areas had not been enough to make a difference to the metro’s drought status.
By Friday afternoon, the weather service had measured 45,4mm of rain in Patensie and 20,9mm at Swartkops, while it was much less significant in the other catchment areas.
Rainfall at the Kouga Dam was measured at 5,5mm, while Kareedouw had 4mm and Joubertina 4,2mm of rain.Baron also warned residents not to flout water restrictions because of the rainfall. “There has been very little runoff into our catchment areas and the rain experienced is unlikely to provide any significant relief.
“Residents are urged to continue using water sparingly.”
Other regions of the Eastern Cape also had bad weather.
The conditions also caused chaos in Buffalo City Metro, where a tree was uprooted, roads were flooded and traffic officers deployed to some areas with faulty traffic lights.
Buffalo City spokesman Samkelo Ngwenya said the Fitchet and Ziphunzana bypass, North East Expressway leading to Abbotsford, Settlers Way, Link Road at the Esplanade and the Steve Biko Bridge were blocked, while Stevenson Road was closed.
He said there were also reported faulty streetlights in Buffalo Street and Union Street in town, St George’s and Gately Street in Southernwood.
“Buffalo City Metro has issued a warning to residents to be cautious on the roads following the strong and windy weather conditions that have hit the city this afternoon,” he said on Friday.
Ngwenya said the city’s traffic and safety teams, including fire, disaster and electricity services, were on standby to direct traffic on affected roads.
“Traffic officials have dispatched teams to deal with the situation on our roads.
“Residents are also advised to look out for falling tree branches and damaged power lines.”
The South African Weather Service has attributed the cause of the adverse weather to the presence of a low pressure system which will be moving through the country.
Rob Ansell of Snow Report SA predicted on Friday morning that parts of the Eastern Cape‚ such as the Tiffindell Ski Resort‚ would be knee-deep in snow well into Friday night.
On its Facebook page, the resort said early on Friday afternoon that it had received more than 50cm of snowbetween Thursday and Friday morning.
“It [Tiffindell] is covered in about one metre of snow so there is no way in or out of there‚” Ansell said‚ adding that parts of Lesotho were still experiencing snowfall.
Snow was also falling just outside Hogsback and other parts of the country.