Winter weather surprises Cape
2009-11-09 09:06
-
Weather
Looking at topics such as - the weather Wind, cloud, tornadoes, twisters and more.
Now R185.95
buy now
Cape Town - Capetonians were taken by surprise by unusually rough winter weather at the beginning of summer, as heavy rain, flooding, and stormy sea conditions lashed parts of the Western Cape over the weekend.
Five swimmers nearly drowned.
Almost 50mm of rain fell between 08:00 on Saturday and 08:00 on Sunday in various parts of the province.
Carl Opperman, executive head of Agri Western Cape, said it didn't usually rain this much at this time of the year. He said the rain was not necessarily a problem for farmers, but did present a risk for grain farmers.
Harvest
"The rain poses a possible problem for grain farmers who started harvesting now. It will hopefully become warm quickly for the moisture to dry out."
There was also a risk of fungus growing on vineyards and fruit trees, he said. "It is, however, still better to battle with water rather than drought."
According to him, parts of the Karoo were still very dry and needed rain. The Southern Cape is also currently experiencing the worst drought in 100 years.
Rain was forecast on Monday for parts of the Southern Cape.
More rain was also expected in the Cape metropole, the Overberg and West Coast. Temperatures in the province were not expected to exceed 20°C.
According to Craig Lambinon, spokesperson for the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI), five people almost drowned near Melkbosstrand at about 11:45 on Sunday.
Stormy sea
"Two teenagers went swimming at Melkbosstrand's main beach on body boards and were swept away by the stormy sea and strong currents.
"A junior life saver went after them on a body board but also ran into difficulty.
"After this, another teenager and a man in his twenties went into the sea to help the people and they were also swept away by the currents," he said.
The NSRI's rescue boat found two people about 900m (half a sea mile) from the beach, still on their body boards. The other people - two on body boards and one on a surfboard - were rescued a bit further on.
Charlotte Powell, spokesperson for the City of Cape Town's disaster management, said flooding occurred at several shacks in Masiphumelele (Ocean View), Khayelitsha and Mandela Park (Hout Bay).