Havoc all around as Cape of Storms hits Western Cape
As recovery phase to rebuild homes and infrastructure battered by the inclement weather in recent months continues, strong gale-force winds once again caused havoc in parts of the province on Tuesday.
Trees were uprooted, roofs of some facilities collapsed while the main entrance of Access Park in Kenilworth had to be closed after a structure was blown over.
About 14 000 customers were left without electricity supply due to faults caused by severe weather conditions across the province.
This is after the South African Weather Service upgraded the Yellow Level 2 warning of damaging winds on Tuesday to an Orange Level 6 over the City of Cape Town, Garden Route, Overberg, Cape Winelands and the Central Karoo.
The cold front is expected to extend into Friday.
Eskom said the damaging winds could potentially affect restoration efforts and exacerbate the current backlog of faults that Eskom has prioritised to reduce in some of its electricity supply areas.
The Oudtshoorn Municipality recorded fallen trees, damaged electrical poles, and decided to place a ban on all controlled fires in the Greater Oudtshoorn area.
City Disaster Risk Management spokesperson Charlotte Powell said they were monitoring any potential impacts.
“City services are on standby to attend to any impacts that may arise, and our humanitarian partners too are on alert, in the event that soft relief is required. We ask the public to please be on the lookout for any falling debris or other obstructions caused by the strong winds, and to take extra precautions on the roads,” Powell said.
Theewaterskloof Municipality said the strong winds damaged the roof of a taxi rank in Grabouw. Power outages and damage to power lines were reported across the Overberg.
“We are aware of power outages affecting the greater Genadendal and Greyton area as well as parts of Villiersdorp. We assure residents that we will remain in contact with technicians and provide support to ensure that power is restored as fast and safely as possible,” it said.
The municipality also provided an update on those affected by floods four months ago after the Human Settlements Department co-ordinated the handover and distribution of starter kits on Wednesday.
“A total of 80 families from Madiba Park in ward 2 the Greyton and Genadendal area received these starter kits provided by the National Department of Human Settlement’s emergency housing unit to assist families affected by the April storms. This was the first round of handovers,” the municipality added.
Ward 99 councillor Lonwabo Mqina said the majority of Monwabisi Park informal settlement residents in Khayelitsha who were hard hit by winds and heavy rain in July have rebuilt.
“The national department gave people building materials. These were people who submitted their names and a list was done after assessments were also conducted. However, we found out there were people who did not give their names and still need starter kits to rebuild,” said Mqina.
Human Settlements director-general Alec Moemi said as natural disasters occur, the department along with provinces and municipalities should speedily help restore the lives of those impacted.
Cape Times