Families in Oudtshoorn informal settlements left homeless following flash floods

Several families from informal settlements have been left homeless after their homes and belongings were washed away during flash floods at Oudtshoorn in the Little Karoo. Another family had a lucky escape after two massive trees were uprooted by heavy winds and fell onto their home and destroyed it.

The victims are currently in a place of safety or with family members. The flash floods was caused by a cloud burst – where around 80 mm of rain fell in two hours. Resident, Karen Nathang, says she lost everything in the flood.

“When I saw it come, I was like God please help us. I didn’t know what to do at that moment. It was very scary. There was no one to help us at that stage. And when I looked outside the water was this high at this lady’s place. It was very bad,” says Nathang.

SA Weather | Monday 06 December 2021 

Meanwhile, officials at Oudtshoorn are still assessing the damages following the flash floods.

The Meiringspoort Pass has since been reopened to traffic after being flooded while the Swartberg Pass remains closed. The Oudtshoorn Municipality has activated its joint Operations Centre to provide relief to those affected by the flooding.

Disaster management head, Adel Supra-Vertue, says they remain on high alert as rain continues to fall.

“We had a cloud burst that caused some floods. Some of the roofs in town as well as outside of town got some wind damage as well as trees that fell into houses. As you can see at the back of me the fire station also had some damages with the roof blown off. We have some damages in Meiringspoort as well but our majority concern is our area in Bongolethu which was hit hard with wind and rain,” says Supra-Vertue.