The Executive Council of the Eastern Cape has declared flood-hit areas in the province as disaster areas. A number of storms moved over the province since last month claiming at least 17 lives.
The Executive Council of the Eastern Cape has declaredA number of storms moved over the province since last month claiming at least 17 lives.
The Premier’s spokesperson, Khuselwa Rantjie says the declaration of the disaster is being submitted to the National Disaster Management Centre for classification and verification. “The declaration of a disaster will ensure a consolidated and integrated government effort to support communities to rebuild their lives and protect livelihoods. Cabinet noted that natural incidents that result in the disaster have been occurring much more frequently in the province which calls for proactive and coordinated efforts to improve early warning systems and enable swift response when incidents occur.
A Disaster Operations Centre is also up and running to deal with the aftermath. Seven people have died in the floods in the metro.“The disaster management processes are underway. We are finalising the application towards the classification and declaration of this disaster. Our teams are out cleaning all the affected areas including the roads. We are still housing people in some of our community halls whose structures were destroyed.