Pretoria - Residents living adjacent to the Crocodile River in Mpumalanga have been warned to be alert as heavy rains are predicted to continue over the next few days.
Spokesperson for the provincial Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Department, Simphiwe Kunene, said the province has experienced an average of 10.5mm rain in the last 24 hours.
A special warning has been issued to residents living in the Gert Sibande and Nkangala Districts to be on full alert for flooding.
The department has advised communities to take the following precautions in the event of floods occurring before crossing a river, either on foot or in a vehicle:
- check whether the water level is raising
- do not cross bridges with a high water level
- if trapped in a flooding vehicle, rather abandon it.
"The department would also like to call upon those people living in low laying areas and next to flood lines, to be extremely cautious as the continued rains can lead to the increase of river levels, thus making small streams very dangerous.
"We would also like to warn all road users to be careful as the roads are wet and to always keep a safe following distance," said Kunene.
The department has also instructed all municipalities to be on full alert and on standby and to activate their Joint Operations Committees.
Kunene said together with municipalities, they are continuing to monitor the dam water levels and the river flows as the rains continue to fall in the province.
