A general dealer voluntarily evacuated his shop and a Standerton street was closed to traffic, as was a dirt road in a nearby township on Thursday, as water was released from the Grootdraai Dam after this week’s heavy rains.
It was not nearly as bad as previous floods in the Mpumalanga town, residents said on Thursday.
”This time we were warned in time and in a proper manner,” shop owner Solly Essak said. ”In December 1995, we had very little warning and then the water came. It flooded my shop — only the roof could be seen.”
Indicating the little general dealer that was still closed, he said: ”Hardly anything of that one could be seen, just a tiny bit of the roof. Really, this is nothing.”
But, residents and shop owners are nevertheless fed up with the floods every time heavy rains fall in the catchment area of the Grootdraai Dam outside the town.
”[We] said years ago that they need to build another dam between Morgenson and Ermelo,” said Essak. ”This can’t continue. We lose money, you see. We have to pack up all our stuff, then we hear the water is going down and we unpack again, then the water comes again and we pack up. Really, we can’t do this every time.”
Essak’s son, Nazeer, still remembers the big flood of 1975, when large parts of the town were under water.
”People came to the one hotel in their boats to have a beer. At least this is not nearly as bad.”
On Monday, after heavy rains fell over most of the interior, there were fears that the mass of water entering the Grootdraai Dam could again cause widespread flooding in Standerton. But, through careful monitoring of the dam’s level and controlled release of water, a disaster was averted.
The town’s joint operational centre spokesperson, Amanda Peens, said a careful watch was kept this time.
”In 1975, we didn’t have the dam yet. In 1995/96, they were not yet sure how to control the flood water with the sluice gates.”
The dam was about 87% full on Monday. The level rose to 114% on Wednesday, but went down to a more manageable level of 109% on Thursday afternoon. It has a 120% capacity, said the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry.
On Wednesday, 850 cubic metres of water a second flowed out of the dam through the sluice gates as 1 200 cubic metres a second streamed in.
Serious flooding could occur in the town as soon as 1 000 cubic metres a second or more are released from the dam, said Department of Water Affairs and Forestry senior director Amelius Muller.
Driving through the town, Peens indicated previous high-water marks. A problem is Standerton’s location on wetlands and between hills, with several streams in low-lying areas of the town — also feeding the Vaal River. In heavy rain, the ground becomes so saturated it cannot absorb the water, resulting in secondary flooding.
Some buildings even have submersible pumps in their basements to control the constant inflow of water. One of them is the local police station.
At no stage were lives threatened this week, Peens said. Warnings of possible flooding were issued to houses in low-lying areas. At one stage about 30 households were threatened, but the water receded and no evacuations were necessary. The taxi rank, next to a stream, experienced some flooding, but not nearly as much as in 1995.
”Then only the yellow roofs were visible. This time the water just pushed into the rank a little.”
This week, run-off water flooded the sewerage pipes, pushing raw sewerage through some low-lying manholes, and a sewerage pump station next to the river had to be closed.
Peens said the sewerage poses no threat to people.
”It is diluted to a large extent by the run-off water that ends up in the sewerage pipes. It really isn’t a health threat, but we monitor it closely.”
Peens warned that some parts of the township, Sakhile, will be washed away if there is a serious flood. People have built shacks in the beds of rivers and streams normally dry or just a trickle.
”With the last flood, these shacks were not here yet,” Peens said. ”If a similar flood occurs again, these people will be gone. I don’t know what we will do.”
On Thursday afternoon, residents heaved a sigh of relief as the flood waters receded and the skies cleared — even though the threat of heavy thundershowers remained.
”With this much moisture in the air, heavy thunderstorms can still occur, although the tropical low is moving away,” said Louis Fernandes, of the South African Weather Service.
The water may have gone down in the Vaal River at Standerton, but the threat of a possible flood with the next deluge remains. — Sapa