Cape Town - The South African Weather Service’s Cape Town office expects this weekend to be clear but cold, with temperatures predicted to increase gradually next week, allowing Capetonians a reprieve from the recent grey skies and wet weather conditions.
Other parts of the Western Cape will not be as lucky, as the weather service issued a warning for disruptive rain leading to localised flooding of susceptible informal settlements and roads expected over the Langeberg and Garden Route municipalities into tomorrow morning, as well as between Storms River and Port Alfred from the evening, then easing off.
The weather reprieve was welcomed after last week’s bout of heavy rainfall over the Mother City resulted in destruction and despair for residents, particularly those residing in informal settlements.
This was followed by another cold front that landed in the Cape early yesterday morning, which led to slippery and flooded roads, reduced visibility, and warnings of more localised flooding of susceptible informal settlements.
These rains were not kind to the Helderberg Nature Reserve, which was closed temporarily after a fire earlier this month destroyed many homes and properties and caused significant environmental damage.
Deputy mayor and Mayco member for spatial planning and environment Eddie Andrews said the Biodiversity Management Team had completed a full assessment of the reserve to determine the extent of damage to the hiking trail network following the fire.
“There is significant damage to the upper section of the Helderberg Mountain, where the trails accessing West Peak and the Dome have been completely burned out.
“The additional heavy rains post-fire have also caused what was left of the trails to be washed out. As such, the trails are no longer visible making the area unsafe and extremely dangerous for hikers at this stage,” Andrews said.
Andrews encouraged the public to adhere to the safety precautions and not to hike in these areas.
Agriculture MEC Ivan Meyer said the news that the province received more rain than expected in June was well-received by the agricultural industry.
However, Meyer said it was important to note that for the rest of the season, the frequency of rain was more important than the total volume of rain.
kristin.engel@inl.co.za