Storms shut down the Cape
2008-07-07 23:54
Cape Town - The storms which have been buffeting the Western
Cape since Thursday last week, have left 16 000 people homeless.
Roads have been washed away and in the Citrusdal area, farms were cut off from the outside world on Monday.
Tourists and farm workers were evacuated by helicopter.
Advocate Christo Nel reported that 300mm of rain had fallen in the Cederberg Mountains and that the road between the Bo-rivier and Onder-rivier had been washed away.
Huguenot Tunnel closed
The Huguenot Tunnel was closed at 16:20 on Monday after a rockfall had made it inaccessible on the Worcester side.
According to a tunnel-control spokesperson they had to turn back large numbers of motorists and truck drivers as both sides of the tunnel were closed to traffic.
"Our guys are working very hard to open the tunnel, but the entire bank on the eastern side of the tunnel has collapsed because of the heavy rain."
The tunnel was reopened by 20:50.
No one was injured in the rockfall.
Disaster management spokesperson Wilfred Solomons said that a total of 3 347 structures in the Peninsula had been flooded and that the city was continuing its mopping-up operations.
Solomons added that the entire Cape Flats had been affected by the stormy weather.
Snow expected
Meanwhile, Carlton Fillis, a forecaster with the South African Weather Service, has said the rainy weather should clear up by Thursday, with snow expected by Tuesday evening on Matroosberg and the surrounding mountains higher than 1 500m.
Snow is expected in Sutherland on Tuesday night and "that will force temperatures even lower".