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[File Image] Residents walk across a flooded road following severe weather with heavy rain from a cold front.
Humanitarian aid organisation, Gift of the Givers, says more than 200 families remain stranded in the Baviaanskloof area in the Eastern Cape, following severe flooding and infrastructure damage caused by the recent heavy rainfall.
The organisation says roads and bridges leading into the remote region are impassable due to rockfalls, leaving residents completely cut off with no availability for purchase in food stores.
Gift of the Givers Chairman and Founder, Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, says dangerous weather conditions have made rescue and aid operations extremely difficult as the teams on the ground are exploring every possible option to reach stranded families.
“There’s no accessible roads or bridges, infrastructure is damaged and no boats can go through. The helicopters can’t fly and the different types of helicopters we have tried but the wind is too strong. 200 families are trapped and stuck without food since Thursday in 31 districts in the area.”
“Our team leaders are stationed at Willowmore right now, tons of food supply and no means of getting it in. The teams are now looking at taking 4x4s to a certain point and being assisted by farmers with 4x4s on the other side,” adds Dr Sooliman.
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-Reporting by Sisipho Ngcumbe
