Be careful, motorists warned

MOTORISTS in the parts of the Western Cape affected by heavy rains have been warned to stay off dangerous roadways as clean-up operations continue after deadly floods.

Yesterday officials, along with Disaster Management crews, began mopping-up operations in different parts of the Southern Cape where heavy rain had wreaked havoc in several municipalities and their surrounds.

Four people died and hundreds of others had to be rescued from their homes and were taken elsewhere as homes were flooded after heavy rain that began on Wednesday.

Philiswa Somtsora, from the Plankiesdorp informal settlement in the Riversdale area, said she and her family were still living in their flooded shack.

“It has been a bad few days for my family as our shack has been flooded since the rains started in our area on Thursday,” she said.

“All six of us share a one-room shack that is flooded. All our blankets are wet, the municipality has given us some supplies, but the bags to cover the holes where the water comes in isn’t enough to cover the whole shack so if the rain changes direction, water comes in from other parts. It’s still raining and we are still living in this flooded shack.”

Nolan Jacobs, 25, said large hailstones that rained down in their Bitouville community, near Gouritsmond, had shattered windows and destroyed roofs and cars during the week.

“People are trying to come to terms with what happened because even with the weather reports nobody expected it to get as bad as it did,” he said.

“The old houses in Bitouville were the hardest hit because of their asbestos roofing, and that caused havoc.

“The rescue teams only managed to come out on Thursday to remove the elderly people, who were trapped in their homes and were unable to get out by themselves. That Wednesday, and well into the night, people were praying to whatever god they believed in.”

Spokesperson for the Department of Local Government, James-Brent Styan said the storms in the Western Cape had largely subsided with weather warnings downgraded.

“There are still some predictions of rainfall expected in a few areas but nothing major,” he said.

“The major focus is the humanitarian relief in the Overberg region particularly in the communities of Struisbaai, Agulhas, Theewaterskloof and Riviersonderend – those were areas that were particularly hard hit.

“If you look at Struisbaai, they received 174mm of rain over the past four days. Hermanus received 62mm, Cape Agulhas 142mm. There are still some rescue efforts continuing, one civilian was pulled from a car early yesterday in the Arniston area.

“We want to remind people that roadways remain very dangerous as roads and bridges have been damaged and people need to avoid travelling around the province in their affected areas as much as possible – just for a few days while the clean-up efforts continue.

“We have had reports of rockfalls in places as far as Outeniqua Pass, but nothing significant. Nonetheless, the roadways are dangerous and people need to exercise extreme caution.”

Spokesperson for the Cape Agulhas Municipality, Gurswin Prins said mopping-up operations and damage assessments to houses and infrastructure were continuing.

“We are still assisting the families who are housed temporarily in halls and caravan parks as well as those who remained in their houses with mattresses, food and blankets. People in other areas that were affected are receiving similar help,” he said.

“We received many donations, for which we are thankful, but we still have a lot of people who lost everything and are in need of food, blankets and mattresses. The Swellendam, Arniston and Struisbaai roads are still flooded,” added Prins.