On Wednesday 8 June 2011 from approximately 13h00 NSRI Mossel Bay assisted the emergency services with flooding in the Kleinbrak area. People and pets were evacuated from rising flood waters and removed to a community hall. NSRI Mossel Bay volunteers used their Surf 420 rescue craft Vodacom Rescuer IV to assist in the transportation of persons and animals, affected by the severe weather and rising waters, to safety along flooded roads.
NSRI Mossel Bay station commander Dawie Zwiegelaar said that the joint emergency services were more than prepared to deal with any incident and no injuries, fatalities or major damage was caused. By last light only a skeleton crew of emergency services personnel remained on scene to monitor the situation as water levels subsided, said Dawie.
NSRI rescue stations around the country were placed on high alert since Monday (to assist the emergency services with any emergencies related to the severe weather) and NSRI Plettenberg Bay, NSRI Wilderness and NSRI Knysna responded to a number of severe weather related “hot spots” where roads flooded or river levels rose considerably but no serious incident was recorded. Graeme Harding, NSRI Knysna station commander said that NSRI Knysna were called to close the Gouna Road at the Gouna River crossing for a brief period on Wednesday 08th June and that the effort was precautionary until river levels dropped.
