Cape cleans up after storms
2009-06-26 09:06
Cape Town - After nearly four days of gale-force winds, biting cold, enormous ocean swells and over 100mm of rain in places, Western Cape municipalities are now hard at work with clean-up efforts.
The worst of the series of cold fronts to have hit the province since Monday wreaked havoc on Wednesday night and Thursday. The mountains in Ceres, the Hex River valley and Dutoitskloof are also covered in snow.
On Thursday afternoon, a thin layer of snow had also covered the highest peaks of the Outeniqua mountains, where it was also bitterly cold.
According to Neil Hamman, Agri Western Cape's district manager at Worcester, farmers in the Rawsonville area said they had measured up to 180mm of rain during the week. "Most of the damage was caused by wind, but at least it doesn't sound like the damage was very severe," Hamman said.
According to Elza Jordaan, chairperson of the Hex River Valley's Table Grape Association, the farmers there are grateful for the cold and the rain.
"The Hex River and its tributaries overflowed like they did in November, but there's been no damage to any orchards," she said.
Flooding, wind damage
In Citrusdal, the Olifants River flooded the bridge, trapping residents in the town after the police prevented small vehicles from crossing the bridge. The golf course and caravan park were also flooded, said a resident.
In the southern Cape, a gale-force wind of over 100km/h caused serious damage in George in the early hours of Thursday morning.
The Standard Bank branch in the Garden Route Mall will be closed for about five weeks after it collapsed, and five other shops were also damaged.
In Cape Town, several suburbs were without power on Thursday, after trees and branches were blown over, damaging power lines.
Charlotte Powell, spokesperson for the city's department of disaster and emergency management, said they had received many calls regarding damaged roads and trees that had been blown over, including a rockslide at Scarborough on Thursday morning.
Informal settlements worst affected
"The informal settlements on the Cape Flats bore the brunt of the storms. About 420 residences, or 1 000 people, were affected by the weather."
Cape Town mayor Dan Plato said at a council meeting that further measures were put in place to reduce the possibility of flooding in the lower-lying areas.
The next cold front is only expected to reach the Cape by late next week, while cold temperatures are still being predicted until Saturday.
- Reporting by Marlene Neethling, Tisha Steyn, Nikky Oosthuizen and Vania van der Heever.