Eastern Cape homes, roads and shops under water

Foul weather has caused havoc in the Eastern Cape, with motorists stranded on flooded roads, businesses closing and homes damaged.

But the weather service had good news for the rest of the week.

After heavy rains and strong winds struck East London, the Buffalo City metro opened community halls in Gompo and Mzamomhle to accommodate thousands of residents of informal settlements whose homes were flooded.

Flooding also brought businesses to a standstill.

Owner Laksmi Rama said it would take a week to sort out the mess at her flooded store in the city centre.

"This is the first time something like this has happened."

Traffic on flooded roads backed up yesterday morning, with some motorists taking more than two hours to get from Gonubie to the city centre.

According to Arrive Alive spokesman Tshepo Machaea, many accidents were reported.

"East London had more cases than other parts of the province, but no one was reported injured in that area. Most of the accidents were head-on collisions as the cars couldn't see the roads clearly because of the heavy rains," he said.

"The only deaths reported were in a head-on collision between a bus and a Polo that happened between Cofimvaba and Ngcobo, which left three passengers dead."

Provincial disaster management chief Captain John Fobian, said houses in Cambridge, Dorchester Heights and Scenery Park were flooded.

People were rescued out of cars on flooded roads.

Fobian said electricians were working hard to ensure electricity was restored to areas including Gonubie, Cambridge, Nahoon and Vincent.

Good news from spokesman for the weather bureau Garth Sampson was that the weather would improve.