Africa-Press – South-Africa. Emergency and disaster risk management services in the Western Cape are on high alert as heavy rain, lightning and thunderstorms lash the province.
So far, no major incidents have been reported except for severe flooding in some areas. The South African Weather Service (SAWS) issued a yellow level 3 and orange level 5 warning for the intense rain.
“Scattered to widespread showers and thundershowers are expected over the Western and Northern Cape on Monday, contributing to a possible rain-on-rain event. Heavy downpours (30-50 mm/h) accumulating to 50-80 mm in pockets, strong and gusty winds (50-60km/h, gusting 80-90km/h), excessive lightning and large amounts of small and large hail (1-4cm in diameter) are possible,” SAWS said.
Colin Deiner, head of the Western Cape’s disaster management service, said no major incidents had been reported. “We used a light aircraft to do reconnaissance flights over the affected areas this morning and activated our rescue services. No lives were lost. We are planning for Monday and Tuesday’s possible flooding,” he said on Sunday.
In Stellenbosch, residents of Kayamandi were severely affected by the rain and flooding.
The municipality’s spokesperson Stuart Grobbelaar said officials were helping affected families through its disaster management department as well as the community development department.
“There have been isolated incidents of storm damage reported caused by gale force winds and heavy downpours on Sunday, but there is no damage to critical municipal infrastructure. Mopping up operations are commencing,” he said.
Grobbelaar added there had been interruption in power supply to some streets and areas which had been addressed or was being addressed.
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In municipalities along the West Coast, the Swartland Municipality part of Malmesbury experienced high water volumes, affecting roads.
In the Berg River Municipality, several houses were flooded in Piketberg and Porterville, and some trees were uprooted by strong winds.
Heavy rains and wind lashed the Cederberg Municipality, but no incidents were reported.
In Saldanha Bay Municipality, various low-lying areas experienced minor flooding, which the town engineers attended to.
Local Government MEC Anton Bredell urged people to heed SAWS warnings to be safe and vigilant as more scattered to widespread showers and thunderstorms were expected in the Western Cape.
“The current combination of severe weather and high levels of load shedding increases risk, so people are urged to remain vigilant and consider their safety in their immediate surroundings,” Bredell said.
“Our Disaster Management Centre has a spotter plane in the air looking for people in distress, particularly on the West Coast. We have the support of SARZA, a volunteer organisation with specialised off-road vehicles that can access difficult locations if we should need them,” he said.
Bredell said the centre remained on standby and in a state of readiness for load shedding, severe weather, and any other disaster-related incidents.
City of Cape Town Disaster Risk Management spokesperson Charlotte Powell said they had only received reports of flooding in Somerset West and were busy with assessments.
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