News24 | Eastern Cape floods force evacuations and widespread road closures

Heavy rains battered the Eastern Cape’s Sarah Baartman District and Nelson Mandela Bay on Wednesday, forcing evacuations from flooded informal settlements and closing several roads and bridges.

Authorities urged residents to seek shelter in community halls and warned motorists to stay off flooded roads, as sinkholes, rockfalls, and dangerously high water levels posed serious risks.

On Thursday, Kouga Mayor Hattingh Bornman appealed to residents in the flooded areas to move to safer community halls.

Bornman, who visited the Oceanview informal settlement on Thursday morning, said the municipality had prepared blankets, mattresses, and meals to assist flood victims.

“Please make sure that you evacuate to our community halls,” Bornman said.

The mayor also appealed to motorists to take precautions when driving around Kouga.

“We need to make sure that we keep motorists off our roads. We have had some sinkholes and rockfalls. Our teams are working extremely hard to make sure that we get our roads clean,” said Bornman.

The Kingsway Village in the Gamtoos area, also in Kouga, was asked to evacuate on Wednesday night due to heavy rains.

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One of the roads closed on Thursday morning was a bridge on the R331 in Patensie, which was inaccessible and closed due to flooding.

The R330 route on the Humansdorp side was closed to all traffic until further notice.

The Weston Bridge also remained closed due to high water levels and unsafe crossing conditions.

“Members of the public are urged to avoid these areas and make use of alternative routes where possible. Motorists are reminded that attempting to cross flooded roads or bridges poses a significant risk to life and property,” the municipality said in a statement.

“Municipal teams are continuously monitoring the situation. Roads will only be reopened once water levels have lowered, and it is confirmed that conditions are safe for public use.

“We appeal to all road users to exercise extreme caution, adhere to all road closure signage, and follow instructions issued by emergency services and traffic officials. The safety of our residents remains our highest priority.”

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Eastern Cape Department of Transport spokesperson Unathi Binqose said the R102 between Gqeberha and Jeffreys Bay was closed to traffic due to rockfalls.

“The route serves as an important alternative and parallel route to the N2, linking Gqeberha, the Gamtoos Valley, Humansdor