STRAND and GORDONS BAY:
Early Monday morning, 25 September, NSRI Gordons Bay rescue swimmers, GB Med Sec ambulance services and Police responded to Kays Caravan Park in Strand where multiple residents were evacuated from the caravan park.
Some residents were transported to hospital suffering medical complaints not related to the weather.
At the same NSRI Gordons Bay were alerted by Cape Town Fire Control to evacuations of residents and commuters at Croyden Railway station, Somerset West, by Fire and Rescue Services officers and Fire rescue divers and there were no injuries.
In a combined operation NSRI Gordons Bay rescue swimmers, Traffic Services, SA Police Services, GB Med Sec ambulance services, Community Policing Forum, Disaster Risk Management, the Mayors office, WC Government Health EMS, Law Enforcement, Fire and Rescue Services, Community and Neighbourhood groups and Municipal authorities, joined forces to evacuate residents in areas around Strand and Gordons Bay where homes were affected by flooding.
No injuries were reported.
NSRI Gordons Bay and the emergency services and Police remain on alert to assist at Clarence Drive, R44 that is closed due to mud slides, rock falls and flooding. NSRI rescue craft were made available to Disaster Risk Management to assist if any evacuations were required to be mobilised from the sea side but it remained unnecessary as the day progressed.
This is still in affect.
HERMANUS and STANFORD:
On Monday early morning, 25 September, NSRI Hermanus and NSRI Kleinmond mobilised resources to join Traffic Services, SA Police Services, Community Policing Forum, Disaster Risk Management, the Mayors offices, WC Government Health EMS, Law Enforcement, Fire and Rescue Services, Community and Neighbourhood groups and Municipal authorities to evacuate residents in areas around the Klein River, Stanford and parts of Hermanus.
In Stanford at least 46 residents – including adults, the elderly and children, a parrot and domestic animals, were safely evacuated from houses and buildings affected by the Klein River that burst her banks during heavy downpours since Sunday evening and into the daybreak of Monday.
Shelter, medications, supplies and some hospitalisations were carried out during Monday that saw all affected safely relocated to shelters and safe areas.
NSRI commend all services that pulled together to provide help to those in need.
After departing the scene late on Monday NSRI Hermanus returned to Stanford to evacuate a further 2 households that were affected by flooding during the day.
NSRI Kleinmond attempted to reach Caledon where flooding occurred but were unable to reach Caledon after encountering numerous roadways and passes cut off by flooding, but we are aware that SA Police Services, SAPS Water Policing and Dive Services, Fire and Rescue Services, Disaster Risk Management, the Mayors office, WC Government Health EMS, Law Enforcement, Community and Neighbourhood groups and Municipal authorities to evacuated residents in areas in and around Caledon.
NSRI Kleinmond remained on alert for the severely flooded Palmiet River.
NSRI Strandfontein were placed on alert to assist at Stanford but were not mobilised.
2 NSRI JetRibs and NSRI Jet-Ski’s, NSRI Crocs and NSRI rescue swimmers were used at Stanford making it possible for residents and animals to be safely transferred across flood water ways. Unfortunately the toll on inboard impellers of the NSRI rescue craft has resulted in there requiring substantial repairs but NSRI stations remain on alert with alternative resources to respond to emergencies in cooperation with Police and the emergency services.
The support, cooperation and communications between all services can be highly commended.
On Monday afternoon, 25 September, NSRI Strandfontein were activated by City of Cape Town (CoCT) Law Enforcement to join Traffic Services, SA Police Services, Community Policing Forum, Disaster Risk Management, the Mayors office, WC Government Health EMS, Law Enforcement offices and Law Enforcement Marine Unit, Fire and Rescue Services, SPCA, Community and Neighbourhood groups and Municipal authorities and City of Cape Town authorities to evacuate residents in areas of Macassar where flooding was extensive.
A total 71 residents, including adults, the elderly and children, 2 pregnant females (1 was transported to hospital by EMS ambulance in a stable condition), and domestic animals were safely evacuated.
NSRI rescue swimmers, NSRI rescue craft (a JetRib and NSRI Crocs) and additional Fire and Rescue officers, Law Enforcement Marine Unit, assisted affected persons and animals to cross flood water ways to safety.
56 people and domestic animals were sheltered at Macassar Community Centre.
Dr. Cleeve Robertson, NSRI CEO, said that it is heartwarming to see everyone pull together during this trying time and to successfully avoid fatalities, injuries
and casualties. Our thoughts are with all those displaced and affected by the severe weather conditions, said Dr. Robertson.
NSRI, Police and emergency services resources are braced to help those in need during the heavy rainfalls being experienced in the Southern Cape and towards the Eastern Cape on Tuesday, 26 September.
All information provided is largely an estimate of what NSRI are aware of but may be corrected by Disaster Risk Management that are at the helm of resources, mobilisations, accurate tally’s and damage evaluations and inspections.
Corny
Zimbabwe: You have two cows. They both vote for Mugabe.
Fl00d
The Man who could only Drink Milk
I know an old man who had lived a life full of adventure, but his health started to catch up with him. He\’d run the Boston Marathon, was an avid surfer, and climbed Everest, but he\’d started to have abdominal pains around his 85th birthday and went to see a doctor. Sadly, he ultimately was diagnosed with a rare degenerative liver disease that slowly made him allergic to everything he ate.
He kept copious notes, and as an avid gastronomist slowly grew to despair as everything he\’d spent his life enjoying became something he could no longer eat. Alcohol went first, then mushrooms, then bread, then root vegetables, then coffee, one at a time he had to remove them from his diet. The doctor was clear: if he kept eating something his liver rejected the autoimmune response would be quick and severe, and would lead to a painful death. Little by little, everything was taken away as an option, until the only thing that remained was milk.
In some ways, this actually made life easier, because the mental strain of remembering what he could and couldn\’t eat was gone, but then so was the joy in variety. But he took it in stride, and got his own cow and took classes from a farmer to learn everything he could about the only thing that could give him sustenance. And even within milk, he could still have yogurt, butter, cream, some cheeses, and other milk-derived products he hadn\’t fully rejected yet, so it wasn\’t all bad. But then one day a few months later he felt the pain again, and he knew cow\’s milk was no longer an option.
Lacking other options, he tried goat\’s milk, and he was delighted that it worked! The protein structure is just different enough that his body still tolerated it. That bought him another month. And that\’s when we came up with a wonderful plan to go on one last grand adventure around the world. If he could get one month of life out of the milk of every mammal, he\’d actually have a few more years to enjoy life to the fullest and see the world in all its beauty. Each month, we\’d pick a place with a new mammal, and he would immerse himself fully with the locals, learn all the ways to prepare the milk, and just enjoy the hand he had been dealt as much as he could.
We milked sheep in New Zealand. Camels in Egypt. Zebras in South Africa. Giant bats in Indonesia. Do you know how many Peruvian cuy you need to milk to get a single glass? I do. Even as his health slowly faded, he stayed cheerful, and I felt lucky to join him on the adventure of a lifetime. That brings us to today when he got to the very end of his spreadsheet, and declared that he was now allergic to every mammal. He\’d enjoyed his journey, but his time had come to an end, for there was nothing left to milk.
To which I said nonsense, I bet we can milk a few thousand karma out of this post.