After rain and some heavy downpours in St Francis Bay, from Friday night and early Saturday morning, there was a big flash flood in the Village area and several business and houses were damaged, with some business and home owners reporting R50k-R100k damage and more.
There were reports of 55mm, 68mm of rain in St Francis Bay and up to 76mm, in Cape St Francis were flooded. Apparently, owing to insufficient storm water drainage, some streets became dams and empty plots or roadside verges became dams and even mini lakes
Storm water raced along some streets and dammed up at places. The most affected was the corner of Assisi Drive and St Francis Bay, which was cordoned off by the Kouga Municipality for most of the morning, while mopping up operations were underway.
Storm water also flowed from some streets, down driveways to some homes below street level, flooding some houses, particularly in Reservoir Road opposite the Homestead. At least three homes were damaged in the latter area.
Some owners and guests in Reservoir Road reported that KM landline went unanswered. Fortunately response was swift from the local Disaster Management and NSRI teams that came to help residents and business. Their great response and helpful advice was much appreciated.
Owing to mopping up operations, I did not manage to capture photos of the flash flood at its height, but I did take some a few hours later when the floods had subsided somewhat and I thank those friends who shared their photos, including Hennie the Weighmaster.
Residents were delighted with the welcome rains that filled up their near empty rainwater tanks and watered their gardens. However, sadly, many residents spoken to lamented the fact that owing to prevailing drought in St Francis, and real threats of no water during season in St Francis, there was no water harvesting to capture the flood waters that simply drained away or flowed to the sea.