Cape Town braces for more disruptive rain and flooding

The heavy rain gave Capetonians a breather yesterday afternoon, but severe weather warnings remain in place.

July 10, 2024
Allison Cooper 3 minutes read
Image: City of Cape Town/Facebook.

While Cape Town has already been hit by severe weather, with boots on the ground providing humanitarian relief, the South African Weather Service (SAWS) has issued a level 8 disruptive rain warning and a level 6 warning for damaging waves for tomorrow.

Numerous rivers and canals are at capacity, while others have burst their banks, including Eerste River in Maccasar.

There were also reports of flooded roads across the metro yesterday, with the roads department working to address stormwater system blockages.

“The sheer amount of rain that has fallen has been a complicating factor,” the city said on its Facebook page yesterday.

The city’s disaster operations centre did not receive reports of significant damage or impacts related to the weather last night, and a lot of the flooding on roadways has subsided due to the break in rain since late yesterday afternoon, the city said.

“Today, assessments will continue to determine the extent to which communities have been impacted.”

Assessments to date indicate that more than 14 000 structures have been impacted by flooding or wind damage.

Over the past two days, NGO partners including Gift of the Givers, Ashraful Aid, Mustadafin, Islamic Relief, Al-Imdaad and the Warehouse have facilitated soft relief, including handing out more than 20 000 meals, 2 550 blankets and 2 450 beanies to affected communities in Khayelitsha, Lwandle, Gugulethu, Philippi, Masiphumelele and Tafelsig, among others.

SAWS weather warnings for today include a level 6 for disruptive rain and a level 4 for damaging winds, while a level 8 warning for disruptive rain and a level 6 warning for damaging waves is in place for tomorrow.

The City of Cape Town’s disaster risk management and front-line service teams have been on the ground assisting vulnerable informal settlement residents who were severely affected the heavy rain and floods.

Yesterday, City of Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewiswork said teams were on the ground in Dunoon clearing flooded areas, stormwater pipes and drains.

The city’s electricity teams were also on the ground, attending to a high number of service requests around the metro. “High call volumes and storm damage may lead to longer outages and teams are only able to attend to repairs if it is safe to do so,” the city posted on its Facebook page.

Photo: City of Cape Town/Facebook.

Gift of the Givers inundated with requests for help

Gift of the Givers has been inundated with pleas for help due to the severe rains and strong winds in various parts of the Western Cape.

Yesterday, the NPO posted on its Facebook page that 50% of Lwandle informal settlement in Strand is under water and community members have lost everything. Gift of the Givers’ teams visited the area to assess the damages and relief needed.

 

Gift of the Givers on the ground. Photo: Gift of the Givers/Facebook.

 

Photo: Gift of the GIvers/Facebook.

After receiving calls for assistance from community leaders of Klapmuts for elderly residents badly affected by the heavy rains, Gift of the Givers responded with hot meals and blankets.

Photo: Gift of the Givers/Facebook.

Numerous videos of the flooding and damage have been shared on social media this week:

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July 10, 2024
Allison Cooper 3 minutes read

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Ally Cooper

Passionate storyteller with over 30 years’ experience as a journalist, editor, proofreader, content creator, social media manager and public relations and media liaison specialist.
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