Attachments
Glide Number: FL-2022-000382-ZAF
Description of the Event
Date of event
11-12-2022
What happened, where and when?
Between the 10th and 11th of December 2022, the provinces of Gauteng and North West experienced devastating îoods. The hardest-hit areas were informal settlements located near rivers, below îood lines, and rural areas, particularly on steep hillsides with little to no protective infrastructure. Speciíc parts of Vereeniging, Brakpan, Soweto, Kliptown, Protea South, Bram Fisher, Nanceíeld Hostel, Lenasia, and Alexandra in Gauteng province, as well as Bojanala (Rustenburg) in the North West province, were impacted by the îoods.
Coordinated joint rapid assessments conducted by SARCS Provincial oïces and Provincial disaster management centers, in collaboration with various government sector departments, revealed that around 40,000 people were impacted, equivalent to approximately 8,000 households in the two provinces. Some of the aìected populations were accommodated in community centers as temporary shelters.
While the National Society was responding to the îood impact in the two provinces, the South Africa Weather Services (SAWS) issued a îood threat warning in the second week of February 2023. The warning informed that a slow-moving upper-air cut-oì low-pressure system, in the form of an easterly wave, would wreak havoc in Free State, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and KwaZulu-Natal Provinces. This system was moving over the western interior, creating a convergence zone over Gauteng and the eastern parts of the North West provinces. Following the early warning release, South Africa continued to experience heavy rains consecutively, resulting in excessive ground saturation and a sharp rise in dam levels, causing îooding in some provinces. As a result of persistent rainfall, four additional provinces (Free State, Eastern Cape, Limpopo, and Mpumalanga) were aìected, leading to an increase in the number of aìected individuals to a total of 56,177 people, equating to 12,709 households. In response to this humanitarian crisis, the national society had to expand assistance from 6,500 people (1,300 households) to 12,500 people (2,500 households) in mid-February to accommodate the additional provinces aìected. This assistance included support in the areas of water, sanitation, health, and multi-purpose cash vouchers, made possible through the extension of DREF funding to eìectively respond to all six aìected provinces.
The impact of the îoods was severe, resulting in the destruction of infrastructure such as roads, houses, gardens, small businesses, and electricity connection lines across all aìected provinces. Homes, in particular, were heavily impacted, as many were constructed with basic materials such as tin sheets, wood, and mud. Unfortunately, a signiícant number of these homes were completely submerged in water, causing people's belongings, including furniture, utensils, groceries, blankets, and clothes, to become wet or washed away. This left many individuals homeless and displaced.
With the assistance of the government through the Cooperative Governance and Traditional Aìairs (COGTA) and Disaster Management Centers (DMCs), the South African Red Cross Society (SARCS) identiíed community halls in provinces such as Gauteng, Northwest, Mpumalanga, and Eastern Cape to serve as evacuation shelters, providing safe and essential emergency shelter to aìected households.
Despite SARCS' eìorts to minimize the impact of îoods in disaster-prone areas, a forecast released by the South African Weather Service (SAWS) warned of the potential severe impact of Tropical Storm Freddy. The possible escalation of NS intervention had to take into account the scope of Tropical Storm Freddy to ensure no further risks were encountered as it approached. Thankfully, no further signiícant incidence was recorded, limiting the impact to the above. Freddy Cyclone/Storm decrease on intensity and the forecasted impact linked to its trajectory never happen.
Through the DREF, the National Society has been providing support to 12,500 people (2,500 households) through this intervention.