The US is in turmoil not only on the political front, but on the weather front as well.
Late winter blizzards and early unseasonal tornados have been the order of the day.
Add to that a heat wave on the west coast and the major flash flooding on the island state of Hawaii and one will wonder what is happening with the weather.
In our neck of the woods, the situation is no different with residents of the Western and Northern Cape just recovering from a heat wave, while residents of Gauteng are wondering what happened to winter this year.
At the same time, Limpopo and other areas in the northwest of the country are wondering if the rain and flooding will ever let up.
So, what is causing all this unsettled weather and what is the forecast going forward?
The UN this week officially issued a new climate warning as El Nino looms, which some experts predict as a “Super El Nino”.
Scientists are concerned that the natural warming phase of El Nino could soon bring with it further heat records.
Higher temperatures go hand in hand with extreme weather events, as can be seen by the record temperatures in Cape Town and extreme rainfall events in the Limpopo area.
Some areas in Limpopo have had events that are considered as one-in-100-year events.
Our region has not been left out, with our meteorological drought that is in its 14th year having started after 2012.
This drought, coupled with the flooding in other areas, together with increased diesel and fertiliser prices, plus the effects of foot-and-mouth disease, have already seen an upward spiral in food prices.
Combined with the effects of climate change, according to climatologists, these climate extremes are going to occur on a more regular basis as the earth further heats up.
In the last 40 years, a total of 111 severe national disaster events, mostly flooding, have been recorded in SA, according to data from the South African Risk and Vulnerability Atlas.
There has been a notable increase in frequency and intensity, since 2005, which proves effects of the heating of the atmosphere.
One would therefore be foolish to ignore all these signs and warnings as issued by the World Meteorological Organisation and the UN, coupled with the reality that we are long overdue for a severe event of any proportion in this region.
These warnings have long been conveyed to national and local authorities in meetings, consultations and via risk assessments, yet essential maintenance on infrastructure is hopelessly lacking.
This we have seen with the recent collapse of the electricity pylons on the Arlington line, which has had a major effect on Summerstrand and parts of Walmer and a few other areas.
Considering that infrastructure, such as electricity, roads, bridges, water pipes and even sanitation are severely affected by flooding events, mitigating these effects is vital through proactive actions.
Keeping drains and streets clean so these drains don’t get blocked is the simplest of these actions.
Clearing alien vegetation is not only essential to ensure the free flow of water but also to limit runaway veld fires in the inner city and surrounds.
Though the seven days without power for the western areas and the predicted 21-day outage in the Walmer/Summerstrand area and all the water outages in-between are fresh in our minds, cast your mind back to 2006.
This is when the last flood severely damaged the Kragga Kamma Bridge.
Commuters will remember the traffic chaos that went on for what seemed an eternity, while the bridge was being repaired.
Elsewhere, Tongaat in KwaZulu-Natal had to wait almost a full year after the 2022 floods destroyed their waterworks.
With the increased occurrence and predictions of severe weather events there has not been a proportional increase in proactive actions to mitigate their effects.
Emergency repairs will always be more costly than preventative maintenance and it is the taxpayer and ratepayer that will have to foot the bill of not only repairs, but of possible litigation by affected parties.
This happened after the 2022 KwaZulu-Natal floods when the insurers of Toyota sued Transnet for R6.5bn.
They claim that Transnet, the eThekwini municipality, and the provincial transport department failed to maintain crucial infrastructure, which exacerbated the flooding of the plant.
It is reported that the case is still ongoing.
Self-sufficiency at high costs to citizens might make those that can afford it immune to the frustration of a lack of basic services.
But rates increases and other charges will not make anyone immune to paying for the shortcomings of an administration that does not heed warnings and take proactive actions.
This week in history:
1961 : Flooding reported in the Janesville area
Dam Levels
39.53% dropped from previous weeks 40.27%.
Impofu slightly down to 37.69%
Weather Safety Tips:
With the increase in predicted severe events it is vital that your homeowners’ insurance policy is up to date. You do not want to sit with two tragedies when disaster strikes.
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