Fierce wind topples overhead entrance at shopping centre in Cape Town

Strong to gale force winds destroyed the overhead entrance at a Cape Town shopping centre on Tuesday as a cold front barrelled into the Western Cape.

CCTV footage captured the moment fierce winds toppled the structure, narrowly missing a pedestrian who stepped out of its path at Access Park in Kenilworth at about 9.13am.

Centre management told TimesLIVE no injuries were reported and no stores were damaged. The main entrance to the centre, home to some of the world's leading brand names at factory shops, had to be closed.

The SA Weather Service issued an orange level 6 warning for damaging winds across the province and parts of the Eastern Cape. Strong to gale force winds of 40km/h to 80km/h were forecast for parts of the Western Cape with gusts measuring 90km/h to 120km/h together with rain.

Gusts from 90km/h to 110km/h were forecast for parts of the Eastern Cape.

The Huguenot Tunnel on the N1 was closed for heavy vehicles in both directions.

City of Cape Town teams were attending to electricity outages but warned: “Damaged infrastructure may take longer to repair. The safety situation in an area also impacts repair work and restoration times as law enforcement escorts may be required. Regrettably, it is not possible to give an accurate time of restoration.”

The city’s disaster risk management centre was monitoring developments.

“No incidents have been reported to the disaster operations centre, but we are mindful that some low-lying areas remain waterlogged as a result of the record rainfall experienced in July,” said disaster risk management spokesperson Charlotte Powell.

“City services are on standby to attend to any impacts that may arise, and our humanitarian partners are also on alert in the event soft relief is required.”

TimesLIVE