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dam-l killer dams/LS



NORTHPROV-DAMS

THREE BIG DAMS IN LETABA CATCHMENT AREA OVERFLOWING
JOHANNESBURG 4 February 1999 Sapa

     All three big dams in the Letaba catchment area in Northern
     Province were overflowing on Thursday and emergency workers in the
     region were again on full alert following a storm that wreaked
     havoc at the weekend.

     Mudslides and floods in the Ga-Sekororo region near Tzaneen killed
     at least six people and injured four others on Sunday night.

     Eleven homes were destroyed and rescue operations were mounted
     throughout the week.

     Emergency workers in the area on Thursday were expecting more
     trouble.

     A rescue organiser said a sniffer dog had indicated there could be
     another body under rubble in the Drakensberg. However, a front-end
     loader could not move in because heavy rain had started and there
     was concern that a cyclone was on the way.

     "The dams in the Letaba catchment area are starting to overflow.
     The water levels are rising throughout the system, and there could
     be floods downstream as far as Phalaborwa," he said.

     "We are expecting trouble. The sky has gone black."

     The emergency manager said the Tzaneen Dam was 102 percent full,
     the Ebenezer Dam 101 percent full and Magoebaskloof Dam 102
     percent full.

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      Lori Pottinger, Director, Southern Africa Program,
        and Editor, World Rivers Review
           International Rivers Network
              1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, California 94703, USA
                  Tel. (510) 848 1155   Fax (510) 848 1008
                        http://www.irn.org
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