Joburg residents and those in surrounding areas have been urged to remain on high alert as more heavy downpours are expected to continue.

This follows a level five warning for severe thunderstorms, issued by the South African Weather Service (SAWS), which is expected over the central and eastern parts of the country.

Pedestrians, motorists and people living in low lying areas have been urged to be extra careful in the wet weather. Several accidents and traffic disruptions have been reported in different parts of the city.

One person has been killed and two others taken to hospital after an accident on Republic Road towards Cresta.

“The incident involved a single vehicle, a white Toyota with two occupants. Preliminary information indicates that the driver lost control of the vehicle due to the wet road surface and crashed into a tree. The male driver sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene and female passengers sustained serious injuries and have been transported to Helen Joseph Hospital.  The scene is currently active with emergency services and champ officers working to clear the roadway. Motorists are advised to exercise caution while driving in the area,” says JMPD spokesperson Xolani Fihla.

Meanwhile, the City of Johannesburg’s Emergency Services (EMS) says it should be able to respond to all water-related emergencies that might occur.

“Residents are urged to continue to exercise caution, especially our low laying areas, our residents are urged to avoid crossing at river streams, while conducting daily activities. Our motorists are still urged to continue exercising caution by avoiding crossing flooded roads and low laying bridges and also extend a safe distance. Our aquatic rescue unit remains on high alert, since we’re told we’re still going to receive a lot of rainfall throughout the day. We have got all our disaster management monitoring teams in all seven regions of the city,” says Joburg’s EMS Spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi.

VIDEO| Mulaudzi says there are teams in seven regions who are monitoring various areas as it continues to rain:

In Soweto, some electricians say they are unable to work due to the persistent, heavy rainfall. Electrician Jabulani Mutangi says they are unable to install cables and poles for traffic lights.

“As you can see right now, we can’t work while it is raining, when we do re-cabling, we need to trench and remove all cables and put in the new supplied cables. We’re doing new stuff, it’s a new re-cabling, it’s a new programme where we’re putting in new poles, so as you can see it’s raining, we can’t work when it’s raining.”

VIDEO | Orlando residents say the area floods when it rains heavily:

Motorists are also having it hard trying to navigate through potholes and water patches. Joburg EMS says it will continue to monitor low lying areas.