Johannesburg - The City of Johannesburg’s Emergency Medical Services says they are on high alert after severe thunderstorms hit the region from Thursday night, also cautioning motorists to drive with extreme caution on the wet roads. Some roads in and around Johannesburg were flooded as heavy rain and thunderstorms hit the city on Thursday night.
Robert Mulaudzi, the spokesperson for the Joburg EMS, said no major incidents had been reported yet in the city, but they were on high alert, particularly in informal settlements. “No major incidents have been reported throughout the City of Johannesburg overnight due to the severe thunderstorms which have been occurring overnight.
“However, we are still encouraging all our motorists to exercise caution while driving and for them to extend a safe following distance,” he said on Friday morning. The Joburg EMS also called on residents in low lying areas to remain cautious for possible flooding.
“Johannesburg EMS will remain on high alert monitoring all our known critical areas, mostly our informal settlements, and of course, our aquatic rescue team, which is a specialised team which responds to water-related emergencies will be on standby,” he said.
Meanwhile, Johannesburg City Power said it was experiencing power outages in several suburbs after the Cydna and Randpark Ridge substations went down between Thursday night and Friday morning.
“We are currently suspecting power interruption affecting RandPark Ridge and have sent out a team to attend,” they said on Twitter.
#JoburgUpdates#BeyersSubstionOutage
— @CityPowerJhb (@CityPowerJhb) October 8, 2021
We are currently suspecting power interruption affecting Rand Park ridge & have sent out a team to attend.
New info will be disseminated as & when it becomes available. We regret the inconvenience caused. ^DR
#JoburgUpdates #CydnaOutage
— @CityPowerJhb (@CityPowerJhb) October 8, 2021
Team is attending to the outage in Cydna, ETR will be disseminated & when it becomes available.
We regret the inconvenience caused to our affected customers. 👇^DR pic.twitter.com/kmaEr0qRHw
The suburbs affected by the outages include Atholl, Bramley, Killarney, Illovo, Melrose Estate, Houghton, Oaklands, Sunningdale and Waverley. Suburbs in and around the Randpark Ridge area could also be affected. There were also unplanned outages in Ennerdale, Ridgeway, while power outages were also experienced in Block 8 – which had scheduled load shedding between 4am and 5am on Friday.
Power had yet to be restored in some of those areas – which include places such as Glenadrienne, Kya Sand – Ext 101 and Ext 102, North Riding Estates, North Riding Estates Ext, Northgate, Northriding – AH and Ext, Northumberland, Northwold, Northwold Gardens, Northworld Ext, Sharonlea, Sundowner, Sundowner Ext, Ext 6 and Ext 10.
On Thursday, the South African Weather Service issued a level two alert, warning of possible hail storms and severe thunderstorms in parts of KZN, Gauteng, the North West, Free State and Limpopo.
The weather service issued an alert on Twitter saying severe thunderstorms could occur in parts of the five provinces. “Expected to develop over parts of the North West and Free State spreading to Gauteng, parts of Limpopo and Mpumalanga during this evening and continuing overnight into tomorrow morning,” the weather service said.
⚠️Severe thunderstorms may occur over a large area today (Thursday 07 October 2021). Expected to develop over parts of the North West and Free State spreading to Gauteng, parts of Limpopo and Mpumalanga during this evening and continuing overnight into tomorrow morning. pic.twitter.com/DEaSvLn8Rl
— SA Weather Service (@SAWeatherServic) October 7, 2021
The SA Weather Service said the conditions across the country could lead to heavy downpours, hail, lightning, and strong winds, which could cause damage to cars, livestock and infrastructure. The weather service also said the storms could cause the flooding of low lying roads and bridges, minor vehicle accidents, localised damage to structures and vehicles due to hail. IOL