City electricity teams battle outages caused by severe weather, ‘worst is yet to come’
The City of Cape Town says it is attending to hundreds of electricity requests and area outages as work continues amid severe weather conditions.
The City’s electricity teams remained on the ground to attend to electricity service requests mostly related to storm damage.
“As the weather is expected to worsen, the City advises residents that the predicted heavy rain showers and winds may lead to damaged electricity infrastructure, high call volumes and delayed repair times due to the safety conditions required for electrical work. Residents are reminded to report electricity outages to the City as soon as possible by using the City’s reporting service channels or a new WhatsApp number. “
The City said the weather forecast for the next 24 hours will likely exacerbate the impact of the inclement weather experienced in the metro thus far.
“As the severe weather conditions continue to hit Cape Town, we are likely to see more weather-related damage to electricity infrastructure in areas across the city. Our dedicated teams have already attended to more than 100 electricity-related faults in the last 24 hours and we thank residents for their continued support during this challenging period. Our teams are doing their level best and we are attending to all service requests as speedily as possible,” said Mayco member for energy Xanthea Limberg.
Affected areas include Wynberg, Rosebank, Mfuleni, Heideveld, Grassy Park, Claremont, Ottery, Rondebosch, Lotus River, Kenilworth, Philippi, Penlyn Estate and Belgravia.
Mayco member for safety and security JP Smith on Wednesday said indications are that worst is still to come, before there is any respite.
“With the Level 8 warning for disruptive rainfall in place for Thursday … I want to assure the public that the City has all hands on deck, but that the weather conditions will likely result in widespread flooding, and impact on response times. Where possible, please stay off the roads, and remain indoors,” Smith said.
For electricity services and to report damage: WhatsApp: 060 018 1505, Call Centre: 0860 103 089, SMS: 31220 (Free SMS service doesn’t apply) or email: power@capetown.gov.za
Cape Times