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The winter storm that made landfall early Monday morning on the West Coast is leaving a trail of damage across large parts of the province. Multiple structures have been damaged with roofs blown off and trees have fallen over in areas impacted by the storm to date. There has been damage to electricity infrastructure in some areas and localised flooding in some low-lying areas,

The Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, Anton Bredell, says all emergency services remain on high alert and are responding in areas affected already.

“As at 10h30 this morning there has been no reports to the Western Cape Disaster Management Centre of fatalities, injuries or missing persons as a result of the latest storm. While the storm is still ongoing, we urge the public to continue to limit movement around the province as much as possible. This includes staying away from beaches and promenades and other waterways as much as possible. Conditions along the coastal areas are expected to continue to see storm surges and wave heights of up to 12m in some areas.”

The Centre has received reports of widespread damage caused by the storm. These include but are not limited to:

Cape Town:

Reports of roofs blown off in Strand, Lavender Hill, Mandela Park, Khayelitsha, Steenberg and Heideveld. Trees in roadways in Constantia Nek, Rondebosch. Tree uprooted and fell on house in Tokai as well as on a car in Waterloo Street, Gardens.

Cape Winelands:

The roof of a shop was blown off – fire services have removed the roof from road. A tree was uprooted and fell against a house. Power outages due to a tree that fell on powerlines. Several power outages were reported in the Greater Worcester area.

Flooding reported in the low-lying areas.

Overberg:

Trees were uprooted and fell on houses in Greyton, Caledon, Botrivier and the Botrivier police station. Damage to roofs of housing structures (blown off) were reported in Genadendal. The Botrivier clinic and a primary school in Greyton also sustained damage to their roofs. A big Bloekom tree in front of the school in Plantasie road fell on the high voltage cable leaving the town of Heuwelkroon and parts of Greyton without electricity.

Garden Route:

Garcia pass closed due to fallen trees. Reports of fallen

trees in the George. The road between Blanco and airport closed due to powerlines that was blown over.

West Coast:

A few informal settlement dwellings had roofs blown off by strong winds and water entered the structures.

Central Karoo:                                                                      

No major damages reported at this time.

“Heavy Rain, localised flooding and damaging winds can continue to be expected during the course of the day as the storm moves across the province from West to East. Detailed damage assessments will be conducted when it is safe and the storm had passed. In the event of any emergency the number to remember to call in the Western Cape is 112.”

DAM LEVELS

On the positive side, dams are showing significant increases following the good rains. The total average dam level for the province has increased from last week by 8% to 53% in total. Cape Town dams are at 73% full this week. Clanwilliam dam has increased from 29% to 52% this week and Theewaterskloof by nearly 10%. 

The latest average dam levels for the Western Cape as per the Department of Water and Sanitation:

Issued by The Western Cape Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning