With Eden Districts flood warning released yesterday, many will be watching the Swartvlei and Touw River mouths.  SANPARKS has given assurances that they are ready with the following press release:

The Eden District has released a flood warning predicting 50mm of rainfall starting from today (Friday, the 27th January 2017).
SANParks is monitoring the levels of water at both the Touws River estuary and Swartvlei estuary. The mouths of both estuaries are normally opened at between 2,2m and 2,4m for the Touw River and 2m for Swartvlei.

Jonathan Britton, Marine Ranger for the Wilderness park area which includes Sedgefield,  says  ‘ The excavator is already on site for the Touw River and another one will arrive this afternoon for the Swartvlei estuary.’
This will make it easier to open the estuary mouths at the right time to prevent flooding.
‘ The automated weather station donated by Sedgefield ratepayers also enables us to receive information live to make decisions,’ he adds.
As a precautionary safety measure, two of the Wilderness section of the Garden Route National Park’s popular hiking trails will also be closed on Friday and Saturday- Half Collared Kingfisher and Brown Hooded Kingfisher. Both are 9km hiking trails leading to a popular waterfall in Wilderness.