Progress on the impact of ex-cyclone Dineo in South Africa
Following the entry of ex-cyclone Dineo into South Africa yesterday, reports show that a number of areas are already receiving high volumes of rain. As forecasted earlier, the three Provinces of Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo have indeed experienced Dineo.
Areas like Graskop, Blyde Canyon, Punda Maria and Makhado are some of those that have already received varying levels of rain. About 166mm in 24hours of rain has been the highest volume experienced thus far in Graskop.
At this stage, no damages to infrastructure or loss of lives have been reported as our plans were able to mitigate thus far across the three affected provinces. But it is important to note that large parts of the country, especially in the Lowveld of Mpumalanga and eastern Limpopo areas as more rain is expected.
According to the latest forecast from the weather service, the situation will surely change as more rain is expected during the cause of the day.
With the widespread rain expected today, the risks of flooding is still high and communities are requested to exercise caution and should heed the messages about tips provided to save their lives. Communities are also asked to be cautious as the rivers and dams in some of the affected areas might overflow, thus endangering the lives of the people.
Areas that we mentioned yesterday in both Mpumalanga and Limpopo Provinces (Mbombela, Nkomazi, Bushbuckridge, Phalaborwa, Tzaneen, Giyani, Maruleng, Malamulele, Musina and Thulamela), are therefore still at risk, as such we urge that caution be exercised.
Our plans are being implemented in all the affected provinces and municipalities. It is therefore important to note that communities are at the centre of our contingency plans which are geared to mitigate the negative impact of the storms and rains expected to pounce some parts of our country.
To this effect, even though government is ready and disaster management teams are on standby, we urge communities to get involved if we are to achieve the envisaged success.
“As we are working to ensure safety of communities in our country, we would like to express our sincere condolences to the authorities of Mozambique who have confirmed to us that thus far they have experienced 7 fatalities”, said Minister van Rooyen.
The disaster management teams across the three Provinces will continue to remain on high alert across all spheres of government to deal with any eventualities if they arise.
Enquiries:
Legadima Leso
Cell: 083 378 9495
