Cape mops up after storms

2003-03-24 18:33

Cape Town - Air force helicopters were called in for rescue missions on Monday as the southern Cape reeled under the impact of a night of torrential rain and gale force winds.

At least one person died, roads were cut, roofs were blown off and homes flooded when the storms hit the area on Sunday night and the early hours of Monday morning.

In Montagu, a primary school and 20 to 30 homes in low-lying parts of the town were evacuated when the Kingna and Keisie rivers burst their banks.

An assistant municipal manager, Jacob van der Westhuizen, said that at one point all road links to the outside world were under water, while a bridge on the road to Barrydale had been destroyed by the torrent.

An ambulance crew had to abandon their vehicle on the road to Ashton when it was caught in rising waters, and he understood a bakkie was also washed away.

He did not know the fate of the bakkie's occupants.

Van der Westhuizen said the home owners had not been able to evacuate their furniture. It was unlikely that the school, Montagu Primary, would be able to reopen for another week or so, as it would have to be cleaned up.

He said the electricity and water supplies to the town were interrupted, and were being restored.

Western Cape local government MEC Cobus Dowry said three air force Oryx helicopters were in the area to evacuate trapped people.

He said two cars were washed away. "One person is missing but due to conflicting reports his fate is unknown," he said.

Displaced Montagu residents were being housed temporarily in a creche and a community hall.

In Knysna, also hit by torrential rain and gale force winds, municipal manager Fanus Brink said a man was killed by a falling tree in the informal settlement of Dam-se-Bos.

Temporary accommodation

Both Knysna and nearby Sedgefield had their electricity knocked out, but late on Monday afternoon it was back on in Sedgefield and parts of Knysna.

"We've had some brilliant work by Eskom and the municipal electricity department," he said.

The roofs of 20 to 30 homes in Dam-se-Bos and another settlement, Robololo, were blown off by the wind, and those residents would be accommodated overnight in municipal facilities and given something to eat.

The army had also been asked to provide temporary accommodation.

Farmlands have also been affected by the flooding. Spokesperson for the Western Cape agriculture ministry Helene Rossouw said officials were moving into the area, and expected to have completed an assessment of the damage by Tuesday afternoon.

Dowry said late on Monday afternoon that roads closed were route 62 between Montagu and Ashton; the road between Ashton and Robertson; the road between Robertson and Bonnievale; Kogmanskloof bridge; the road between Robertson and Worcester; and the road between Suurbraak and Barrydale.

He said his department's disaster management component was assisting in Montagu. A joint operations centre had been established at the South African Police Services in Montagu and at the Robertson Commando office.

- SAPA