DEADLY FLASH FLOODS IN FIRE SEASON - Red Cross deploys to aid victims of humanitarian disaster

The relentless rain of the long weekend has left death and destruction in its wake. The Western Cape Provincial Manager of the South African Red Cross, Fernel Campher, tells BizNews about the “devastating impact of the floods” on human lives. He says some residents ended up in “waist-deep waters where they used to live”, while “the first thing a lot of people did was “grab the families and run out of the houses”. Others have been left with “no access to their families or way through to get home”.  The Red Cross is fully deployed in the province - and has been busy providing hot blankets and hot meals to those in urgent need of aid, but appeals for donations of non-perishable items, clothing, blankets, drinkable water, vanity packs and baby packs as more victims are coming forward for aid. Campher warns the road to recovery is going to be a long one, but says the Red Cross will be providing psychological counselling to those left in shock by the impact of the disaster. - Chris Steyn