The storm that hit Cape Town on Wednesday evening caused chaos across the metropole and city services have been inundated with calls of weather-related incidents.
The City of Cape Town’s Disaster Risk Management spokesperson, Sonica Lategan said apart from flooded and obstructed roadways, there have also been reports of flooding in a number of residential areas, and electricity outages.
“The Disaster Management Centre can confirm that the City’s Fire & Rescue Service received an emergency call at approximately 11.20pm last night, of roofs blown off in Wynberg, and damage to overhead electrical wires, Lategan said.
“Crews from Constantia responded to the incident and found four houses affected on the corner of Sussex and Bute Roads. The occupants of the properties relocated to alternative accommodation,” she said.
“Fire Services staff remained on site until the wind died down at approximately 4.30am to ensure there were no further impact. Further investigations and assessments will be undertaken this morning by the Disaster Risk Management Centre.”
The Public Emergency Communication Centre logged 339 incidents between 6pm on Wednesday night and 6am on Thursday morning. Just over 40% of all calls were related to potential impacts of the inclement weather.
During the period, 54 calls were received about flooding of homes and severe weather conditions, and 85 calls relating to conditions on the roads, including motor vehicle accidents and trees obstructing roads. Roughly 10% of calls were for service faults.
The City of Cape Town’s Traffic Services spokesperson, Maxine Bezuidenhout said numerous flooding overnight and obstruction to roadways have been reported.
By 8am, road closures included: AZ Berman Drive between Wespoort and Imperial Roads, the M5 south-bound off-ramp onto Ottery Road, and Rockley and Lester Road in Wynberg due to flooding under the railway bridge.
Trees are obstructing roadways along the R300 north-bound before Hindle Road. The left lane is obstructed. The N7 northbound offramp at Bosmansdam Road, the left lane is obstructed and Diemersdal and Phesantekraal Road in Durbanville, both lanes are obstructed.
“Reports of impacted roads will likely increase as the morning wears on. While we expect lower-than-usual traffic volumes on the roads motorists are urged to not let their guard down and to be incredibly cautious,” Bezuidenhout said.
“Drive slower than usual, drive with your headlights on at all times, maintain a safe following distance and report any incidents that you come across that could present a risk to public safety, as soon as it is safe to do so.”
The public is urged to please report service requests via the City’s voice, text and online channels so that these can be queued for action by the relevant departments.
Any life-threatening emergencies can be reported to the Public Emergency Communication Centre on 021 480 7700.
On Wednesday, the Western Cape Education Department announced the closure of most schools across the province due to the weather warning.
robin.francke@iol.co.za
IOL