Staff Reporter
The Free State Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has dispatched a team from its disaster management unit to assess the extent of the damage caused by the recent heavy rains in farming areas.
This follows reports that infrastructure such as roads, bridges, buildings as well as crops have been extensively damaged by recent heavy downpours.
“Preliminary reports indicate that some roads on farms have become inaccessible,” read part of a statement issued on Thursday by the department’s spokesperson Zimasa Leputla.
She said silos, houses, workshops and storage facilities have also been damaged by the rains which have resulted in heavy flooding in some areas.
“The farms affected so far are around Bultfontein and Hoopstad in Lejweleputswa district, Vredefort in Fezile Dabi district as well as around Kestell and Harrismith in the Thabo Mofutsanyana district,” added Leputla.
Some infrastructure and farm equipment are still submerged in water, while low-lying bridges have been completely destroyed.
Crops in some areas have been extensively damaged and large amounts of soil have been washed away.
“Farmers are devastated as they recount their losses . . . this disaster has not only affected production on these farms, but also the livelihood of farmers, farmworkers and farm dwellers,” she explained.
According to the statement, agriculture MEC William Bulwane yesterday visited farmers in the Bultfontein area to assess the damage and establish the nature of help they will need.
Meanwhile, the Provincial Veterinary Services has warned that the continuous rains may trigger an outbreak of the Rift Valley Fever, a viral disease which mainly affects cattle, sheep and goats but can be transmitted to human beings.
It is spread by either touching infected animal blood, breathing the air around an infected animal being slaughtered, drinking raw milk from an infected animal or the bite of infected mosquitoes.
It is hardly spread from human to human.
Some of the mild symptoms in humans include: fever, muscle pains and headaches which often last for up to a week.
The severe symptoms may include: loss of sight beginning three weeks after infection, infections of the brain causing severe headaches and confusion, and bleeding together with liver problems which may occur within the first few days.
The last outbreak of the disease was experienced in 2010 following persistent rains in some parts of the province.
The veterinary services says Rift Valley Fever outbreaks are associated with heavy rainfall during the late summer.
It says the best way to prevent and control the disease is through the vaccination of livestock such as cattle, sheep and goats.