The heavy and disruptive rainfall and gale force winds brought by with the level 8 weather warning by the South African Weather Service continued Thursday with another cold front hitting parts of the City of Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Drakenstein and other surrounding areas.
On Wednesday July 10, during a press briefing by the office of Western Cape Premier Alan Winde and Disaster Risk Management officials, the Berg River was listed as a concern as the river was then already at 97% capacity. During this briefing, Colin Diener, Western Cape Disaster Management Chief, said the Berg River, Lourens River and Eerste River among others, as well as local dams were being closely monitored by their teams and precautionary evacuations were performed. He added the disaster teams worked with the Cape Winelands District teams to direct the water.
In Wellington, disaster management teams assisted with the evacuation of residents living in Newton, near the Bo-Dal dam area.
Road closures and power outages were other problems residents in the Drakenstein municipality had to grapple with after the heavy rainfall and stormy weather.
Premier Alan Winde announced road and mountain pass closes on Thursday July 11. These included local passes The Du Toitskloof Pass, Michells Pass, close to Ceres, Theronsberg Pass, Stellenbosch to Somerset West, Drew Bridge Breede River, Bainskloof Pass, Wyzerdrift pass, Gydow Pass, and Hermon-Bo pass.
“When a road is closed, it is closed to all road users and to all vehicle types. Roads are only closed for safety reasons. Emergency personnel must be free to respond to unavoidable emergencies. The last thing anyone wants is for a fun trip to turn into tragedy,” Premier Winde said in a statement.
He advised motorists travelling to see the snow to drive with caution and extreme alertness.
Spokesperson for the Drakenstein Municipality, Riana Geldenhuys confirmed evacuations of residents in Newton. “With heavy rainfall predicted for Drakenstein for later this afternoon and during the early hours of tomorrow morning, Drakenstein Municipality has urged residents of Newton in Wellington, who have evacuated their homes voluntarily, to not return to their homes yet and remain staying with family members and friends for now,” she said.
This call was made after a thorough assessment together with engineering experts and dam specialists, added Ms Geldenhuys.
“The Municipality will assess the situation again following the heavy rains predicted for early tomorrow morning, and then advise residents on the best way forward,” she said.
In terms of road closures all other major routes between Paarl and Wellington are open, but motorists are cautioned to drive slowly as potholes are open on these roads.
The Franschhoek Pass has also been closed and the municipality urged residents to be aware that a level 4 warning for disruptive rain is still in place until Sunday July 14.
Karel Dampies, volunteer of the Angels of Hope NGO in Wellington, said on Thursday residents living in nearby farms battle roads being washed away by heavy rains. He drove out to the Oakdene farm outside Wellington to assist with transporting someone to a doctor and he says its was a nerve-wracking experience to drive on those flooded roads. He’s also been informed of the roofs of houses in the vicinity blown off due to strong winds.
They assisted with clothing donations to the social workers in the area to be distributed to those in need, he says.
“We planned to go out to affected residents to hand out warm coffee, soup and bread, but the weather didn’t make it possible to go today, so we are looking at going out tomorrow to help those people, the children from our NGO is really eager to go out and help,” Mr Dampies said.
In his own area, Van Wyksvlei roads were covered in knee-deep water but by late Thursday afternoon, he says some of the water has subsided.
Schools in the Western Cape District, Cape Winelands and Overberg were closed on Thursday July 11. The Head of Education, Brent Walters announced on Thursday afternoon in a correspondence that the department has taken the decision to continue the closure of schools in the Cape Winelands District and Overberg region on Friday July 12.
The municipality appealed for donations to assist storm-affected residents. To donate items, residents can drop off any donations at the Paarl Fire Station, Berg River Boulevard, Paarl which will be open at all hours.
