Rescue teams on high alert for Vaal floods as water levels continue to rise

The National Sea Rescue Institute, police and emergency services remain on alert to help out in flood-affected areas along the Vaal river where heavy rainfall has caused a rise in dam water levels. 

They have warned the public to co-operate with road closures and heed notices of areas that pose safety risks.

Volunteer rescue crews from NSRI Gauteng, NSRI Vaal Dam, the SAPS water policing and diving services, the K9 search and rescue unit, locals community policing forums, ER24 ambulance services, SARZA (Search and Rescue South Africa), municipal fire and rescue services from Enfuleni and surrounds, community volunteers, local Disaster Risk Management and local security companies have all joined forces to manage flood conditions at the Vaal. 

NSRI spokesperson Craig Lambinon said while the NSRI, police and the emergency services are on high alert 24 hours a day, there has been a focus on preparedness after early alerts for local dams — the Vaal Dam, Bloemhof Dam and surrounding waterways — where levels have been exceeding capacity since early April. 

He said efforts were under way to raise awareness of the escalating challenges and that notices to evacuate had been issued by Disaster Risk Management. 

“In some cases residents were reluctant to evacuate, while others in areas that are in danger of flooding but had not yet been affected or breached by the rising waters were also refusing to move,” Lambinon said. 

He said since last Wednesday areas that had not been breached by the rising waters were now becoming sites where water levels were threatening to reach critical danger levels. 

“Obviously from a rescue perspective our NSRI volunteers, in co-operation with police and the emergency services, are keen to prevent any high risk rescue operations. So we have been closely following efforts by the municipal authorities, DRM and local police. Appeals have been made to residents in mostly what appear to be newly formed settlements (that are in some cases below the excess high water mark,” he said. 

Dam water levels were in some cases reported to be 107% to 110%, forcing extra sluice gates to be opened. 

Lambinon said despite the opening and closing of sluice gates, by Thursday it had became inevitable that ongoing rescue operations would be required. 

“We know that some residents and businesses in areas that were threatened by rising water levels were making preparations. For some it got to a point even where things like furniture were being stored in trees. And while rescue workers are continuing to urge people to evacuate, there are still many residents who are refusing.” 

Lambinon said the main challenge was in newly built areas where the homes had not yet been through flood conditions and so how their properties would stand up to floods was unknown.

NSRI Vaal Dam station commander Bradley Naicker said it was an extremely challenging effort, with many of the cases involving residents in unchartered circumstances where homes are relatively newly established and not tested to the high water flood lines. 

On Thursday the Gauteng duty crew was called in as flooding began in the vicinity of the Vaal river/N1 Freeway junction at homes and businesses. 

Residents were evacuated while in some cases, despite the threat posed and the appeal to heed to safety, some refused to leave. 

By Friday morning at least 10 sluice gates had been opened and more flooding was anticipated. 

“We braced ourselves knowing that areas not previously affected would now, without doubt, be a risk to human and animal life downstream. We had to go back to many of the areas where earlier appeals had been made for evacuations because we now knew those residents and their animals would be most likely affected,” said Naicker. 

By Friday night teams all over were on high alert — prepared to respond to emergencies as they progressed — as dam water levels in some cases exceeded 110%. 

During Friday afternoon and evening ER24, police and fire services, in co-operation with local security companies, evacuated residents — where they co-operated — from areas where inevitable flooding was expected or was occurring. 

Late on Friday night emergency operators were notified of a Cape Town man, his wife and their dog — who had recently settled on farmland about 25km from Vanderbijlpark — were trapped between the roadway and their house. 

The brother called from Vryburg to ask for help as his 59 year-old sister’s phone had died and she couldn’t call for help. She and her 79-year-old husband and their small dog needed rescuing. 

The lady's brother had called from Vryburg appealing for help. However his sister's phone had run out of battery power, but reporting that she was with her partner and their dog and urgently in need of rescue. 

NSRI Gauteng station commander Gerhard Potgieter got hold of portable floodlights, headed out to the area and launched their NSRI rescue craft. The NSRI Vaal Dam duty crew was also activated. 

“Following a search operation in extremely challenging terrain, we found them safe but we had to coax them to come with our NSRI volunteers. The lady and her dog were keen to accompany us, but the man was reluctant. We fully understood how hard it was to abandon his home so late at night, but we had to get them into safe care,” said Potgieter. 

Lambinon said that by Sunday teams were still on high alert and rescue workers were on standby, but it was hoped that the worst of the Vaal floods were over for now. 

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