February 9, 2006
By Anish Abraham
PERSISTENT heavy rain falling through Wednesday night, 8 February, has lead to slippery roads across the city, causing minor accidents and major traffic congestion.
"The rain has stopped so the situation is getting better – there are now fewer roads that are covered with water," said metro police spokesperson Wayne Minnaar.
There were two accidents that caused much chaos: on the M1 freeway, at the Buccleuch interchange, just after Sandton, and on the N1 next to the Allandale interchange in Midrand.
Fallen trees have also been reported in parts of the city, obstructing roads at the intersection of Viljoen Street and Gordon Road, in Lorentzville.
"A tree has also fallen across the road and on top of a car by Kitchener and Lancaster streets in Kensington, though there were no injuries," Minnaar said.
Although several accidents had been reported, most of these were cases of "bumper bashing" and were not severe occurrences with injuries or fatalities.
"There have been some minor injuries," confirmed emergency management services spokesperson Malcolm Midgley. "Our medics have attended to about 25 cases since the start of morning traffic – about since 5am."
His department also had personnel posted at informal settlements in low-lying areas, as well as next to the banks of streams and rivers, especially in places like Diepsloot and Alexandra.
"We have not had any reports of severe flooding from these areas, though our people are checking water levels every hour or so."
Midgley said earlier radio reports of two cars being swept away from a low-level bridge in Honeydew were true, though the occupants where attended to by private sector paramedics.
According to Tracey Gill, a meteorologist at the South African Weather Service, its equipment at Johannesburg International Airport recorded 27mm of rainfall over the past 24 hours, while a station based at the botanical gardens in Emmarentia recorded 23mm over the same period.
The wet weather is expected to last for the next few days.
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