Henri Du Plessis, Andisiwe Makinana And Murray Williams
27 July 2007
At least 10 000 people have been left with waterlogged homes and many roads were flooded throughout the city after heavy rains followed in the wake of gale-force winds overnight.
And it's not over, as another cold front is expected to arrive over Cape Town tomorrow afternoon, bringing further showers and gales.
The overnight rain, accompanied by thunder and lightning, wreaked havoc, causing widespread flooding. It left about 10 000 people, mostly from informal settlements around the city, in flooded shacks and some were forced to leave their homes. There were also reports of rockfalls off Victoria Road near Camps Bay.
The city's Disaster Risk Management and its five non-governmental partners were hard at work issuing blankets.
Peak-hour traffic this morning was slowed by bad visibility and roads swamped by water, but at 8am, traffic officials commended motor-ists for their careful driving in difficult conditions.
The city's Disaster Risk Management spokesman, Johan Minnie, said: "By 10pm last night, the number of informal dwellings affected by flooding was estimated at 2 500 structures, housing 10 000 people.
"Areas with the most structures affected included Open Spaces (Crossroads), Lusaka and Sweet Homes (Philippi), Sweet Home Farm (Brown's Farm), and Site B and Site C in Khayelitsha.
"Disaster Management and the five NGO disaster relief partners, SA Red Cross, Salvation Army, HDI, SANZAF and the Mustadafin Foundation, distributed 9 685 blankets during yesterday's operations.
"Halls that were made available for emergency shelter last night included Crossroads Sports Complex, Miller's Camp Hall, Phola Park Sports Complex, Nooitgedacht (Valhalla Park), the Site C Khayelitsha Blue Hall and the Andile Msize Hall and Site B Community Hall in Site B, Khayelitsha.
"It was reported that only six people had spent the night in the Blue Hall in Site C out of the 500 regis- tered as affected people, indicating people were able to move back into their shacks for the night."
Minnie said flooding had also caused mud and gravel to be washed on to roads in Hout Bay and Constantia, as well as flooding six homes in Stirling Road, Plumstead.
"There was at least 15cm of water inside these homes due to blocked stormwater systems adjacent to the M5 and Ottery Road interchange. Flooding in Stirling Road was at least 50cm deep and disrupted traffic at the M5 interchange. Electricity was also interrupted in this area."
Metrorail spokeswoman Riana Scott said train services had also been affected by heavy rain and flooding, with the railway line from the northern suburbs covered by water at Esplanade.
"This forced all trains during peak hour to go by way of Salt River, causing delays," she said. "At Artois near Wellington, the single line was also flooded, slowing trains there."
This morning, many of the shacks in the Kosovo informal settlement in Phillipi were swamped with water and few owners were around.
The weather has also forced pupils to miss school because of drenched clothing.
Kosovo has been hard hit by the weather, with some of the shacks flooded since Wednesday.
In the Greenpoint informal settlement in Khayelitsha, Sipha Mandla Yakobi was one of thousands of residents who spent much of last night baling water from their tin shacks and scarcely slept.
Neighbour Nozi Bele Sidzumo said: "The drains are blocked and so the water just kept on rising in the street. The rain was so heavy that cars were flooded."
Residential areas, especially in the southern suburbs, were hit by flooded roads, and structures such as garden walls were damaged.
In Somerset West, a number of upmarket homes were flooded by torrents of water running down the streets from the slopes of the Helderberg mountain, as storm water pipes overflowed.
Parts of Rustof, in the Strand, were badly hit by the rising waters.
At one stage more than 40 traffic lights in the city area were out of order due to the wet weather.
The Eerste River broke its banks in the Firgrove area, flooding the Vergenoegd Wine Estate vineyards.
City Metro Police spokesman Searle Johannes commended motorists for their "excellent" behaviour on the road during early morning peak hour today.
"We have had three collisions with only minor injuries and it is clear people knew they had to leave home earlier and travel slowly and carefully," he said.
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