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Evacuations, road closures and warning messages were the order of the day along the Garden Route as continuous rainfall wreaked havoc across the region on Thursday.
About a month after severe storms swept through the southern coast causing millions of rand in damages, the Garden Route has again been hard hit by adverse weather.
While this week’s storms have been less intense than in May, 93 residents in Welgeluk and De Rust, in the Outshoorn municipality area, were forced to be evacuated due to rising water levels, flooding, rockfalls, landslides and other weather-related hazards.
According to the Garden Route district municipality, the Garden Route has experienced consistent light to moderate rainfall. Local stormwater systems are coping and no major life-threatening incidents has been reported.
“We are, however, closely monitoring low-lying areas across the district,” said Gerhard Otto, head of disaster management. “In the Oudtshoorn municipal area, for instance, some residents from Welgeluk and De Rust were evacuated as a precautionary measure due to rising river levels. Monitoring of these areas remains ongoing.”
The SA Weather Service has reported that certain mountainous areas received more than 60mm of rain between Wednesday night and the early hours of Thursday morning
The evacuated residents are being accommodated at the Toekomsrus community hall, where support continues to be provided by the Western Cape provincial government department of social development.
The SA Weather Service has reported that certain mountainous areas received more than 60mm of rain between Wednesday night and the early hours of Thursday morning.
Otto said additional rainfall is expected and they will continue to work proactively with local municipalities to address any issues that may arise. “We are also aware of electricity outages affecting some areas. These incidents are being assessed and will be attended to by Eskom and/or the relevant local municipalities as conditions allow.”
Motorists have been advised to exercise caution as dozens of low-lying bridges and river crossings are currently flooded.
In Bitou, residents have been urged to exercise caution as severe weather conditions continue to affect Nature’s Valley and surrounding areas with flooding being reported at the Groot River Bridge and low-lying areas.
We closed all the schools in that region as a precautionary measure, but this message says to all of you, please be careful
— Alan Winde, Western Cape premier
The Kalanderkloof River has overflowed, affecting access routes towards the bridge, while rockfalls and a landslide have been reported in the Western Pass.
Western Cape premier Alan Winde said motorists should avoid unnecessary travel, especially after dark, as emergency and road-clearing operations were temporarily suspended on Thursday due to unsafe conditions and would only resume when it was safe to do so.
“Operation commands are in place, meetings have already taken place. We closed all the schools in that region as a precautionary measure, but this message says to all of you, please be careful,” he said.
“We don’t need to travel; we need to obviously protect people, livelihoods, and lives, and that’s our main objective.
“We will also be continually communicating on all official channels, primarily on the Karoo and the Garden Route which are really being watched closely at the moment.”
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