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Due to the rapid increase of inflows into the #VaalDam, a fifth sluice gate has been opened at 10h00 this morning to manage water levels that have increased overnight as a result of the ongoing rainfall in the Vaal River catchment.
The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) has appealed to communities living along the Vaal River to be extra vigilant for flash flooding.
On Friday, the Water and Sanitation department opened the Vaal dam’s 10th sluice gate as water levels reached an alarming 118%, due to a dramatic rise in water levels following heavy downpours.
The NSRI says emergency teams are working nonstop to rescue people and animals from rising waters. However, some residents still refuse to leave low-lying areas, putting their lives at risk.
NSRI spokesperson Craig Lambinon has urged residents in danger zones to evacuate.
“While NSRI, police, and the emergency services are on high alert 24 hours a day every day of the year, there has been a focus on preparedness from early alerts of the local Dam Vaal Dam, Bloemhof Dam, and surrounding waterways, where water levels were expected to exceed capacity since early April, and the awareness that some areas would be affected, and there was awareness from a rescue perspective that in some cases residents were reluctant to evacuate and that in some cases suspected to be affected areas had not yet been breached by the rising waters.”
🚨 FLOOD WARNING: Controlled Water Releases Underway 🚨
The rising dam levels resulting from heavy inflows into the #VaalDam from the upstream catchment have necessitated the Department to activate more controlled water releases in the Vaal River System today. pic.twitter.com/UArl9v1exX
— Water&SanitationRSA (@DWS_RSA) April 24, 2025
