Floods: patients, corpses moved and schools closed
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Thursday February 23, 2017 14:39
Bamalete Lutheran Hospital, the region’s primary health institution, transferred corpses to private facilities in the village, while patients were sent to Princess Marina Hospital (PMH).
Two primary and one junior school in Mogobane, as well as other schools in Otse were also closed due to flooding, South East district chairperson, Phenyo Segokgo said yesterday. “The flooding has affected Bamalete hospital so badly that we were forced to call the Botswana Defence Force to help.
“Tuberculosis patients had to be transferred to Marina and corpses were moved to Kalorato Funeral Services as the mortuary area was also affected.
We are keeping an eye on other wards and if it gets worse we will transfer them too to nearer hospitals.” He said one gynaecologist and three doctors had been trapped in their houses by the floodwaters.
Ramotswa was sealed off from Monday to Wednesday after the road to the AI highway was submerged in floodwaters, rendering it impassable.
The road was reopened yesterday although authorities continued keeping a close eye on developments.
“In all these areas, the schools have been badly affected by floods.
The schools will be re-opened after everything has settled and the damage has been assessed. It is still too early to assess the damage.
The situation has not changed as heavy flows of water appear to be coming from Kanye areas to our side,” he said.
Segokgo said an elderly woman narrowly survived, after her house collapsed. He warned that if Gaborone Dam rises beyond 100%, there would be no choice left but to relocate residents in Tlokweng to safer areas.
“Our disaster committee is assessing the situation closely and councillors in Tlokweng have started to talk to people to prepare for the situation. If it rains again this evening (yesterday), I am afraid Tlokweng will be affected too,” he said.