Cape battles fierce storms
2007-12-27 10:18
Tisha Steyn, Marelize Barnard and Denzil Maregele
George - Gale force winds and heavy rains have caused destruction from Piketberg to Plettenberg Bay over the past three days and the level of rivers and dams are being watched in case evacuations become necessary.
A retired farmworker, Johannes Sampson, 64, from the farm Smitsvlei, died after a piece of corrugated iron, which was ripped off a roof by the wind, hit him against the head.
Sampson was on his way to a nearby farm, Rondekop, when he died in the freak accident. His sad widow, Tryntjie Sampson, said her husband and a friend left shortly after 16:00 on Monday. The friend ran back, but Sampson went on despite the storm.
He was hit by a piece of corrugated iron, which "flew like a saucer through the air", a few metres from homes on Rondekop.
Mini-tornado
Captain Dennis Vollenhoven, acting commissioner at Piketberg police station, said a mini-tornado with gale force wind, hail and 70mm rain which fell in 20 minutes, ripped off the roofs of homes and businesses.
"The Buffels River is flooded after heavy rains in the Moordenaars Karoo," said Hein Rust, head of disaster control in the Central Karoo, on Wednesday morning. The river burst its banks in Laingsburg, but no serious damage was done in the town.
Infrastructure in the Moordenaars Karoo and Vleiland below the town suffered damage. In Vleiland farmers also suffered damage after about 400 bales of lucern were swept away and olive trees were flattened by the floods.
Western Cape minister of agriculture, Cobus Dowry, said his team was assessing the damage to non-insurable structures.
The Kammanassie and Grobbelaars Rivers were in flood. In the Kammanassie area rural roads were flooded and farmers were temporarily cut off. Causeways in Oudtshoorn were also flooded. Both rivers flow into the Olifants River outside Oudtshoorn. The Olifants River joins the Buffels River near Van Wyksdorp.
The Gamka and Dwyka Rivers, which have their confluence at Gamkaspoort Dam, were also in flood.
Several passes were closed. The Huisrivier Pass on the R62 and Ladismith and Calitzdorp was closed after a retaining wall collapsed early on Wednesday morning.
Workers battled all day to clear at least one lane.
Motorists were advised to travel from Ladismith to Calitzdorp via Riversdale, Mossel Bay and Oudtshoorn.
The Garcia Pass was open, but due to heavy rains in November it was still not in a very good condition.
The Swartberg Pass between Oudtshoorn and Prince Albert, and the Prince Alfred Pass between Knysna and Avontuur were also closed as a result of flood damage.
The NSRI cautioned that boats along the Keurbooms River in Plettenberg Bay be brought to higher ground.