Africa-Press – South-Africa. Flood-ravaged municipalities in the Western Cape are trying to get their ducks in a row as they quantify the extent of the damage to motivate why the National Disaster Management Centre and others sectors should provide them with funding.
According to Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning MEC Anton Bredell, securing aid is the provincial government’s priority.
Bredell has written to President Cyril Ramaphosa, the National Department of Social Development, and the SA Social Security Agency to request assistance.
“We are also requesting engineering support from the South African National Defence Force to help with temporary roads and bridges as well as aerial support to help with evacuations and logistics in inaccessible areas,” he added.
The City of Cape Town said 3 986 structures and 44 49 people need help. Damage assessments still need to be carried out in 30 areas.
Among the affected areas are farms in the Breede River municipality, which were inaccessible due to damaged roads.
Bredell said Franschhoek was divided into two inaccessible parts and that the city centre had no electricity or road access.
“Pringle Bay and Bredasdorp are still without cell reception. A helicopter has been made available to restore the infrastructure in mountainous areas. Water tankers from other municipalities are being sent to Overstrand to assist in their water challenges,” he said.
The SA National Roads Agency monitored traffic flow on the N1 at De Doorns.
Bredell said engineers were on site on the section of the N2 that was washed away at Botriver.
He said the provincial government deployed water tankers from other municipalities to Overstrand amid outages.
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