Heavy rains flood southern Botswana
Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Wednesday February 22, 2017 13:20
From Sunday to Monday, incessant rains literally drenched Ramotswa, Otse, Mogobane and surrounding areas, in the process destroying a bridge between Lobatse and Otse, sweeping away some roads and leaving people’s homes submerged in water.
Interviewed at Mogobane late Monday under overcast skies, amid the increasingly irksome drizzles, the councillor for Mogobane ward, Sisimogang Abram said the heavy rains started falling on Sunday night.
“When rain falls like this, we are negatively affected in Mogobane because we are surrounded by wells,” he said, expressing the amounting fear among his constituents at the time. “Water from Otse hills takes time before running down the hills and as a result, fills up nearby homes,” he said. Abram said Mojadife Primary School was closed after Ralenyena river spilled water into the school, leaving students stranded and desperately in need of rescue by the police.
“The school is surrounded by Molojwe, Taung and Matlapekwe wells that are all flooded. These rains have affected people of Mojadife, Lenkwana and GooKakoko. They cannot cross into Mogobane. I don’t know how they will access some facilities such as health, security and others because they are here,” said a visibly worried Abram. To add to more woes, he said Morutshwane fields and a nearby cattle post were also affected. The ripple effect to such a situation meant residents were left stranded.
Apparently, residents had been warned not to cross one of the closed roads, and despite that, Abram pointed out an incident where a man almost drowned, only to be rescued by the police after eight hours. The struggle to take the man to safety resulted in one of the police officers being injured after their boat lost control and got stuck in the overflowing river.
“Part of the bridge crossing Ralenyena River inside the village has also collapsed. We have closed down the road as the engineers are still inspecting damages. We advise motorists going to and from Ranaka, Ntlhantlhe and nearby villages to take alternative roads as the water has not subsided,” he said on Monday.
Otse sub-council chairperson, Adolf Mosalaesi said the rain had washed away all the internal gravel roads and the railway passing through the village. He said the roads were in a bad state, hence stranding motorists wishing to cross over to the other side.
“The water has also penetrated people’s houses and some (of the houses) are starting to crack. Some of our treasures have been broken. The train has also derailed at Lobatse near Peleng Dam,” he lamented the destruction, which by late Tuesday people had not fathomed whether it was Cyclone Dineo lashing out, or the La Nina phenomenon manifesting its touch on the land.
The South East district commissioner, Ian Tema also confirmed parts of the railway line have been washed away in Otse and Taung respectively.
He said Bamalete Lutheran Hospital was also not spared as its mortuary was forced to transfer a body to a private hospital. He added that they had to move the hospital’s workers to other places until the situation normalised.
“More than 20 families living near Notwane River were affected. The police managed to move their furniture to neighbouring homes.”