For the second time in 10 years my business close to the Berg riverbank was flooded, and this time the damage was huge. I and other residents concerned about the flow of the Berg River, have tried to discuss this issue with the municipality and Water Affairs, but our pleas have gone unanswered.
With the recent heavy downpours and dams filling up, flooding was again inevitable. Yes, one can probably argue that the cold front was an act of God, but then our dams system are “an act of man”. Today, we have highly sophisticated weather stations that very closely predict the amount of water that is going to fall. These last heavy rains were not a flash flood, as had occurred in December, but the constant downpours had been predicted. The Tuesday before the heavy rains started, Wemmershoek had already filled up and all the sluices were opened, allowing a torrent of water to flow into the already full Berg River. This was an inadequate way to manage the situation, and if they really knew what they were doing they would have monitored dam levels before the big cold front arrived an more gradually released water.
