Struisbaai, L’Agulhas bear brunt of intense Cape storm

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By IOL Reporter Time of article published12m ago

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Cape Town – Struisbaai and L’Agulhas bore the brunt of an intense cold front system as the first severe winter weather hit the Western Cape yesterday.

This has led to flooding in formal and informal areas, with rainfall of 28-38mm per hour being experienced at times. A total of 37 residents have had to evacuate their houses in Struisbaai and are being cared for by the Cape Agulhas Municipality, with videos and pictures of hail the size of golf balls being posted on social media.

A primary school in L’Agulhas had to be evacuated when water run-off from the mountain started flowing through the school, the Overberg District Municipality said.

The Gift of the Givers says it has been approached to assist in the storm disaster at Struisbaai.

The SA Weather Service had predicted significant rainfall and gale-force winds over the City of Cape Town, Cape Winelands district as well as Hessequa municipality last night, with most of the adverse weather conditions expected over the Cape Metro and the Overberg.

’’One classroom of the school in Struisbaai was damaged by the downpour. The stormwater system was overwhelmed and many houses had water through them,’’ the Overberg municipality said.

’’Cape Agulhas Law Enforcement and Traffic as well as Overberg Fire Rescue teams were deployed reacting to calls of entrapment and vehicles in the water and off the roadways.’’

Struisbaai residents were forced to evacuate their homes yesterday. Picture: Facebook

By 1pm the situation in the Struisbaai area had improved, but the rest of the area towards Napier still received a lot of rain, the municipality said.

All emergency services remained on high alert through the night. NSRI stations in the Overberg areas have also been placed on alert.

A flooded home in Struisbaai. Picture: Facebook

Gift of the Givers Founder Dr Imtiaz Soolaiman said last night: ’’Our teams have already loaded vehicles with blankets, mattresses, sanitary bags, diapers, baby cereal, masks, sanitisers, bottled water, and bulk food to be used for cooking for the next three to five days providing three meals a day as residents will be moved into community centres.”

Another flooded home in Struisbaai. Picture: Facebook

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