Warning as Vaal Dam overflows

Published Jan 28, 2010

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Shopkeepers along Burger Street in Standerton, Mpumalanga, scrambled to evacuate their shops as water began to rise in the nearby spruit on Wednesday.

Amod Ayob said: "We had three hours to clear out my furniture shop. Luckily we had a lot of people helping."

Ayob and several other shopkeepers were able to beat the floodwaters as they edged into the town centre. One unfortunate mechanic was unable to clear out his shop before it was flooded. Last night, shopkeepers and their families came to assess the damage.

Down the street, a street sign was almost totally submerged.

The cause of the dramatic flooding was a severe cloudburst on Tuesday evening, when 95mm fell in just 15 minutes.

This water, coupled with heavy rains in the Ermelo area, flowed into the Grootdraai Dam, which feeds into the Vaal River and the Vaal Dam.

The heavy rainfall across Gauteng in recent weeks has also caused the Vaal Dam to overflow - a phenomenon that hasn't occurred since 1997.

And with the dam standing at 106 percent full, the Department of Water Affairs has begun opening sluice gates to reduce the water flow into the dam.

Officials have opened eight sluice gates since Sunday, and were expected to open another four today.

People have been warned to avoid low-lying areas around rivers and refrain from crossing overflowing low-water bridges.

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