Mopping up efforts continued Friday after torrential rain washed away roads, burst riverbanks and displaced communities across the Western Cape. This as more potentially damaging cold fronts barrel towards the region at the weekend.
“Due to heavy rains, one of the three sluice gates opened to the highest level for the first time in more than 30 years to release water from the Wemmershoek Dam into the Wemmershoek River,” said Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis.
“The system controlling the three sluice gates is triggered by the rising water level in the dam as a result of the rainfall in the catchment. The city has a standard operating procedure for the sluice gates. This is linked to a disaster management plan which includes co-ordination with Stellenbosch Municipality, Drakenstein Municipality, the Winelands District Municipality and the South African Police Services, which all formed part of this planned release to reduce the threat to residents and damage to property. The city is monitoring all its dams closely.”
Heavy rain earlier in the week saw dams supplying the city with drinking water fill up to 86,1%
“Regarding electricity outages, at least 25 localities across the metro have experienced storm-related outages since the start of the week, with the city steadily restoring power to most of these. After a major outage in the Helderberg on Wednesday, officials worked tirelessly to restore most of the area by mid-morning on Thursday,” said Hill-Lewis.
NGOs were assisting with humanitarian relief for residents of affected informal settlements.
Gift of the Givers chairperson Dr Imtiaz Sooliman said on Thursday that municipalities, disaster management and desperate communities along the N1, N2 and N7 had requested humanitarian assistance.
“The deluge severely affected thousands of people, damaging multiple homes, personal possessions and washing away precious food items in a time when hunger is endemic in our country,” he said.
A number of cold fronts are expected to hit the province, which is saturated in many municipalities, from Saturday until Wednesday.
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Dam sluice gate fully opened for first time in 30 years as cold fronts barrel towards Western Cape
Image: Supplied
Mopping up efforts continued Friday after torrential rain washed away roads, burst riverbanks and displaced communities across the Western Cape. This as more potentially damaging cold fronts barrel towards the region at the weekend.
“Due to heavy rains, one of the three sluice gates opened to the highest level for the first time in more than 30 years to release water from the Wemmershoek Dam into the Wemmershoek River,” said Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis.
“The system controlling the three sluice gates is triggered by the rising water level in the dam as a result of the rainfall in the catchment. The city has a standard operating procedure for the sluice gates. This is linked to a disaster management plan which includes co-ordination with Stellenbosch Municipality, Drakenstein Municipality, the Winelands District Municipality and the South African Police Services, which all formed part of this planned release to reduce the threat to residents and damage to property. The city is monitoring all its dams closely.”
Heavy rain earlier in the week saw dams supplying the city with drinking water fill up to 86,1%
“Regarding electricity outages, at least 25 localities across the metro have experienced storm-related outages since the start of the week, with the city steadily restoring power to most of these. After a major outage in the Helderberg on Wednesday, officials worked tirelessly to restore most of the area by mid-morning on Thursday,” said Hill-Lewis.
NGOs were assisting with humanitarian relief for residents of affected informal settlements.
Gift of the Givers chairperson Dr Imtiaz Sooliman said on Thursday that municipalities, disaster management and desperate communities along the N1, N2 and N7 had requested humanitarian assistance.
“The deluge severely affected thousands of people, damaging multiple homes, personal possessions and washing away precious food items in a time when hunger is endemic in our country,” he said.
A number of cold fronts are expected to hit the province, which is saturated in many municipalities, from Saturday until Wednesday.
TimesLIVE
Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.
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