Decent rain fell over parts of the Eastern Cape on Wednesday and Thursday amid a looming Day Zero crisis. Photo: @gail13sa/ Twitter
Day Zero: Rain at LAST for Nelson Mandela Bay! But is it enough?
The rain came and just as soon dissipated amid the ever so imminent Day Zero in Nelson Mandela Bay and the Eastern Cape province.
Decent rain fell over parts of the Eastern Cape on Wednesday and Thursday amid a looming Day Zero crisis. Photo: @gail13sa/ Twitter
An air of hope would have filled residents who watched as heavy rain fell over the catchment areas of drought-stricken Nelson Mandela Bay on Thursday and Friday.
That is until the grim reality that the sporadic rain was not confined to the drainage basin of the region. Instead, the showers shifted more towards and settled over the Indian Ocean. Expectedly, this took the wind out of the sails of many.
Rain has little impact on Day Zero
Earlier, the SA Weather Service (Saws) issued a yellow level 2 warning for a chance of rain across the province. The weather authority predicted heavy downpours along the coast and adjacent interior between Storms River and Port Alfred.
READ MORE: Day Zero looming: Nelson Mandela Bay dams at combined 12.3%
And so, despite the decent rain, Saws said it would not be enough to delay Day Zero. On Friday morning, there were unofficial reports of about 180 millilitres of rain measured at Krakeelhoek.
Elsewhere, in the Kareedouw area, the weather service said it measured more than 50 millimetres of rain. Earlier this month, the first day of water-shedding commenced in the Kouga Local Municipality.
SABC News reported that the drop in the water supply was due to low dam levels, including the Churchill Dam, which reached less than 10 per cent capacity.
Boreholes drilled in Nelson Mandela Bay
To stave off Day Zero, the Gift of the Givers Foundation descended on Nelson Mandela Bay on 14 June, with measures afoot to dig boreholes.
Hopefully, the organisation said, this will be an answer to the looming water crisis. At the time, reports on the ground suggested that the Impofu Dam was pumping silt instead of water.
Worsening matters, widespread water leaks reportedly accounted for a loss of about 80 million litres of water daily. In their attempt to rectify the issue, Gift of the Givers got stuck in immediately and began digging almost a dozen sink boreholes.
ALSO READ: Nelson Mandela Bay: ‘Day Zero’ drawing closer and closer
