Whatshot
The Future is Off-Grid
The Future is Off-Grid
Date: 2022-04-29
Dolphin Coast property owners have been through a traumatic period over the past few years. The economic shock of the 2020 lockdown and the impact of Covid on the short-term holiday rental market, the extreme civil unrest and looting of 2021, which is still fresh in our memories, and the severe flooding and the resulting loss of lives and properties in April 2022 have left some of us exhausted and wondering what is next? We are a resilient nation and typically bounce back quickly from setbacks.
The wisdom displayed by several of my clients in building alternate water and electricity supply capacity at their homes paid off over the past two weeks and will no doubt become more mainstream and property owners realize they should not rely on the local authority for the consistent supply of utilities. We have also all realized that living with electricity interruptions is one thing, but water supply issues are far more disruptive and harder to deal with.
Informal settlements that are close to rivers were swept away in the floodwaters and the patent risks these communities are exposed to is evident. Local and National governments have a challenge on how to best deal with this reality.
There are some key lessons from the flooding that have been highlighted to property owners within sectional title housing communities such as those residential developments in Umdloti that faced the full force and destruction of the flood.
An excellent analysis of the area was posted on social media using Google Maps to show the cause of the destruction of part of the Surf Side sectional title complex off Bellamont Road in Umdloti.
The massive earthworks underway at the large-scale development directly above and to the West provided a catchment area for a massive amount of water, which was then channelled directly over Bellamont road taking out freehold properties and a large swathe of the Surf Side complex.
This sectional scheme is 35 years old and has weathered all sorts of extreme weather conditions over this time. It consists of 98 units with a median valuation of R2,425,000 per unit. This event is hugely damaging to these properties and the remaining properties in the immediate surroundings.
The Body Corporate of Surf Side's insurance policy will now be tested, and the insurers will no doubt be scrutinizing the potential causes of the channelling of the floodwaters through the scheme.
The first lesson for property owners is to ensure their insurance is comprehensive and deals with the unlikely events of destruction by fire or flooding. The second lesson is to pay special attention to stormwater controls in place within your sectional scheme, homeowners' association or freehold home. Get solid professional advice from specialists and once they provide their view take action on it. So many times people delay taking action until it is too late.
The third lesson is to pay special attention to large retaining walls around the properties. If things look unsafe they more than likely are and should be avoided.
The fourth lesson is that we should all accelerate our investment in being off-grid as far as possible and to have a supply of water and alternate electricity supply for residential complexes as well as freehold homes.