 | Farm dam above Newton, Wellington, still unsafe – evacuated residents asked to stay put
13 July 2024 | Press Releases |
13 July 2024
Working in consultation with a dam engineering specialist, Drakenstein Municipality's Engineering Services department performed another onsite inspection this morning of the farm dam above Newton, Wellington, and has confirmed that it is not yet safe for evacuated residents to return given the rain forecast for tonight.
While the water level of the 150 000-cubic-meter dam in the Bo-Dal area is showing improvement, the dam wall is still at risk and the Municipality's advice to residents is to remain with their family members and friends, and not return to their properties yet. Approximately 900 households from Newton – in particular the section between Jan van Riebeeck Drive and the Bo-Dal Road – have since Tuesday night (9 July 2024) opted to temporarily move to a safer space.
The Municipality is bearing in mind the orange Level 6 warning for disruptive rain (more rainfall and possibly thundershowers and light hail) that was issued earlier by the South African Weather Service (SAWS) for the southwestern parts of the Western Cape. The SAWS predicted heavier downpours for the southern parts of the municipalities of Drakenstein, Witzenberg and Stellenbosch for this weekend. Over the 48 hours, rainfall accumulations of 60-100 mm are expected in mountainous areas.
Drakenstein Municipality will keep on monitoring the farm dam above Newton and perform another onsite inspection tomorrow morning. After it has reassessed the safety of the dam, the Municipality will advise the community on whether it is safe for them to return.
In the meanwhile, the Municipality continues to monitor the water levels of the Berg River and all other major rivers in the area, and it attends to localised flooding incidents across Drakenstein.
So far, the Municipality has distributed over 10 000 sandbags in areas that were flooded, and issued around 120 meters of plastic sheeting to assist residents of informal dwellings with leaking roofs. The Municipality is also aiding 254 people in two temporary shelters, of which one shelter is accommodating 41 homeless people.
All major transportation routes in Drakenstein are open for traffic, while the Municipality's Roads teams are making safe potholes, which formed due to the heavy downpours, on the main routes. The Stormwater teams continue to attend to blocked canals and stormwater drains, especially in informal settlements.
The Municipality's electricity network is up and running, with the Electro-Technical Services teams dealing with isolated outages.
All municipal cemeteries remain closed as it unsafe to continue with burials in the wet and slippery conditions. In addition, the soil is incredibly saturated due to the large amounts of rain that Drakenstein has received. The Municipality will reassess the situation on Monday (15 July 2024).
The Orleans Park resort in Paarl has been closed temporarily due to the inclement weather, and all municipal sports fields remain closed for practice and play - to ensure the safety of players and prevent damage to the fields. The heavy rainfall has caused the sports fields to become waterlogged.
The Municipality's Fire Services, Traffic Services, and Law Enforcement division, as well as other essential services, are on the ground attending to any emergencies or incidents.
To report an incident, residents can:
In case of an emergency, residents can contact the Municipality at 080 131 3553 toll free (all hours).
Strictly for fires, contact the Municipality's Fire Services at 021 872 2323 (all hours).
To donate items, residents can drop off any donations at the Paarl Fire Station, Berg River Boulevard, Paarl (open all hours).
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Issued by: Communication and Marketing, Drakenstein Municipality
