2006-10-17Staff Report 2 "By Petronella Sibeene WINDHOEK A number of shops at the Wernhil Park shopping complex in Windhoek remained closed yesterday following an unexpected downpour that pounded the capital on Sunday evening, drenching the streets. The heavy rains that started late Sunday are reported to have caused extensive damage to some shops at the mall. Owner of Cash Crusaders, Nico van Rensburg, who trades in mainly electronic equipment told New Era yesterday that rainwater had caused a lot of damage. ""A lot of damage has been caused especially that most goods are electronic. The wood furniture also is likely to swell up with water,"" he said. He tentatively placed the damages at N$50 000. Business that usually starts at 08h00 every working day remained at a standstill until 11h00. He was uncertain what might have caused the water to flood the mall, adding that he was awaiting an assessment by the owner of the complex. Business at one of the largest supermarket chains Pick 'n Pay started earlier than usual. By 06h00, staff members were hard at work ensuring that everything was brought back to normal after a previous evening of draining the floodwaters out of the shop. ""The flooding started at about 6pm and the shop was closed. We only managed to clean up by 21h00,"" said trainee manager Mauricu Ngutjinazo. The shop that usually closes at 19h00 during the weekend had to close for business an hour earlier as the rainwater streamed in. No extensive damage was reported apart from a few wooden cupboards that will need repairing. Ngutjinazo could not determine how much the repairs would cost. Equally affected was Le Gear, a shop known for trading in designer clothes. ""We always start at 09h00 but today we are not open for business, maybe tomorrow,"" shop attendant Jerome Matton told New Era. Most clothes in the shop had to be taken off the hangers, as they were wet. He said the downpour was too much and thus ""the council should take a decision"". According to Chief meteorological Technician Jennifer Moeti, the rainfall outlook for Namibia during the period October to December 2006 indicates normal rain over the bulk of the country's northern and eastern parts. Compared to countries located on the northeastern parts of the SADC region, chances are high for receiving normal to above normal rainfall during the October-December period. Namibia, Angola, the northern parts of South Africa, Swaziland, Botswana, Madagascar, and Mauritius have higher chances of receiving normal to below normal rain. At the 10th Southern Africa Regional Climate Outlook Forum (SARCOF) held in Gaborone early this month it was determined that ""most of the SADC countries have good chances of receiving normal to above-normal rainfall during January, February, and March 2007,"" she added." 2006-10-17Staff Report 2
