Cape Town - The cost of the destruction caused by the series of cold fronts that continue to make landfall over the province is expected to run into millions of rand.
The agriculture and rail sectors on Monday said they were still counting the cost of the damage, while formal and informal housing structures, and electrical and communication infrastructure continued to take a beating.
Agri Western Cape chief executive, Jannie Strydom, said: “At this stage for the agricultural sector there is a huge challenge with infrastructure damage, and specifically along the rivers where irrigation infrastructure has been damaged and will have to be replaced. Access roads are a major challenge at this stage for farmers to get their produce off the farm to the market.”
The Cape Winelands and Matzikama regions were among the major areas affected.
“Commodities affected at this stage are citrus and the harvesting of potatoes, as well as long-term crops which got damaged as well. This includes table grapes and wine grapes,” said Strydom.
The SA Weather Service on Monday issued an advisory for level 5 damaging winds, which could potentially cause damage to formal and informal housing structures, electrical and communication infrastructure, and uproot trees.
WEATHER UPDATE : The SA Weather Service has issued an advisory for level 5 damaging winds for Monday, which can potentially cause damage to formal and informal housing structures and uprooting of trees.
City’s disaster risk management spokesperson Charlotte Powell explains…. pic.twitter.com/4zZYDbOLR5
The South African Air Force, Gift of the Givers Foundation, SAPS and the provincial Traffic Department were called to assist with a large-scale relief operation, with the aim of reaching areas and towns that were cut off during the recent storms and needed to be evacuated.
Gift of the Givers said its teams loaded trucks with supplies for the flood victims in Rawsonville, where more than 1 280 people were affected and 340 structures destroyed.
Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) chief commercial officer, Bonginkosi Mabaso, said contingency plans were in place where infrastructure had been damaged.
“Extreme weather conditions have resulted in some rail infrastructure damage in parts of the Cape mainline, and a few branch lines in Transnet Freight Rail’s Cape Corridor in the Western Cape.
“As a result of the extreme weather, TFR has put in place contingency measures to minimise the impact on operations.
“Our technical teams have put various interventions in place for a swift turnaround in infrastructure repairs and recovery to ensure safe train operations.
They also continuously inspect the lines and strictly monitor the network.
It is still raining so we are unable to quantify the impact on operations,” said Mabaso.
The City’s Disaster Risk Management spokesperson, Sonica Lategan, said the impact on infrastructure was being counted.
The City had its hands full with call-outs from residents requiring flood-related assistance. Eskom on Monday said multiple electrical faults have left customers in Betty’s Bay, Pringle Bay and Grabouw farms without electricity supply.
“The unplanned outage affecting Grabouw farms is the result of theft and vandalism at the Nabo Substation. Eskom operators are on site working around the clock to bring back electricity supply to customers in the area.” In terms of City infrastructure, it will take some time to determine whether anything has been affected to the extent that it requires repairs or replacement.
“Work to alleviate the impacts of the adverse weather has been ongoing since the first cold front made landfall earlier this month. The continued rainfall has slowed down progress in terms of dealing with impacts like flooded roads, power outages and uprooted trees, among others, but the work continues.
“It is hoped that the dry days ahead will play a vital role in allowing water levels to subside in areas that are still experiencing localised flooding or problems caused by the heavy rainfall.
“That said, the SA Weather Service has now also warned of level 5 damaging winds, which could slow down the work, or potentially cause further impacts,” said Lategan.
Numerous reports of flooding were still being reported to the Disaster Operations Centre and humanitarian relief would still be ongoing where needed, Lategan added.
Premier Alan Winde and Local Government MEC Anton Bredell were on Tuesday expected to give an update on the disaster management stakeholders’ flooding response.
Bredell’s department said the past week saw large-scale disaster management operations, which included numerous government departments, municipalities, and civil society organisations.
Spokesperson Wouter Kriel said: “The initial focus was to mitigate the impact of the disaster, save lives, and the provision of humanitarian aid. The next phase will involve assessing the damages and rebuilding affected infrastructure. There are still a number of areas without electricity and repair work is continuing.”
Cape Times