With winter rains looming large, the City of Cape Town is pulling all the stops to mitigate the effects on communities, especially those in low lying areas.
On Saturday 2 April, the City’s Disaster Risk Management (DRM) hosted a floods awareness campaign at Marikana informal settlement, in Lower Crossroads, to caution the residents and remind them to be on high alert.
DRM employees joined hands with community leaders and distributed information pamphlets among residents.
They also offered residents tips on what do during the floods.
Community leader Noxolo Botha described the campaign as informative. She applauded the City for visiting the area ahead of the rain season. “We welcome the campaign because we believe the information that they are sharing with us will help us in the future. Marikana is one of the flooding areas in the Klipfontein region and getting such information will make a difference,” she said.
Abdul Hendricks, the City’s Disaster Risk Management officer, also described Marikana as one of the high risk areas.
He added that the City is conducting public awareness to avert possible disasters in winter. “We are distributing pamphlets to the community with information on what they are supposed to do during flood times, or even prior to flooding. For example, if some of the shacks are on a lower area they need to lift up the floor by putting in sand. So, they can request the department of DRM to come and assess the area and if need be then the officials will ask for the City’s trucks to come with the sand,” he said.
Hendricks said they also advised those with shacks in low areas to move and build on high areas. He said they plan to visit almost all the informal settlements in the Klipfontein area.