Flood-Lashed South Africa Still Faces Drought
Date: 24-Dec-04
Country: SOUTH AFRICA
Author: Peter Apps
Record rains in the Western Cape caused millions of rands worth of damage, flooding caravans and houses and cutting electricity and water supplies, South African media said, with helicopters plucking some to safety.
Recent storms in the commercial capital Johannesburg have seen several people swept to their deaths as flash-flooding turned normally gentle streams and storm drains into raging torrents.
Only weeks after widespread worries of drought, South African Weather Service forecaster Lee-ann Clark said some areas saw as much as 200 mm (7.8 inches) of rainfall in 24 hours on Wednesday, and that although the worst was past, more rain was expected in the days ahead.
"We're going to see more damage, particularly in places like informal settlements (shanty towns) that have very poor drainage," she said.
But forecasters still predict a weak El Nino, a climatic phenomenon linked to Pacific water temperatures, will leave southern Africa facing a drier than average year.
Officials say the rains have been highly localised and shortages and restrictions such as hose pipe bans will remain, even in provinces like the Western Cape that have seen heavy rain.
"We had a very dry November, but December has been better across most of the country," Department of Water Affairs Director General Mike Muller told Reuters.
"Cape Town is still under 20 percent water restrictions. They are more likely to tighten that than anything else in the months to come."
Most farmers have now been able to plant the season's staple maize crop despite later-than-normal rains, but say there are still pockets of drought. Durban's main dam is only 27 percent full, water is being taken from fuller upstream dams.
"In terms of water restrictions, we're at a wait and see moment," said Steve Gillham of state-owned water utility Umgeni.
Towards the end of January, attention will turn to tropical cyclones coming in from the Indian Ocean.
In early 2000, flooding in Mozambique and neighbouring countries during the cyclone season left hundreds dead and thousands homeless.
"We've already seen a few weak cyclones north of Madagascar," said forecaster Clark. "A cyclone would lead to a lot of water falling on Mozambique but in fact the way these systems work it would also cause South Africa to be drier."