Thousands of residents were affected by the heavy winter rains as Capetonians stayed indoors in the face of severe weather warnings.
|||Cape Town - More than 1 000 residents were affected on Saturday by the first of the heavy winter rains as Capetonians stayed indoors in the face of severe weather warnings.
The city’s Disaster Risk Management Centre reported that it had helped 327 households and 1 286 people on Saturday in Philippi, Bishop Lavis and Strand. Spokesperson Wilfred Solomons-Johannes said they handed out 1 780 blankets and 1 280 meals.
“Other areas still to be assessed are New Village, Soli’s Town, Pholile, Maskhane, Ethembeni, Happy Rest, Wag ’n Bietjie, Lotus IFS, and WB, Y and BM sections in Khayelitsha,” he said late Saturday.
When Weekend Argus visited Philippi on Saturday, residents were struggling to get in and out of their homes as rainwater flooded pathways right up to their doorsteps, and inside their homes.
Residents baling water out of their homes said that they had been under water since yesterday morning. The authorities had yet to arrive to help.
In Lizo Sonamzi’s home, water was still seeping in through the front door.
“We’ve been filling buckets and buckets of water since this morning,” he said.
“We try to minimise the damage by pouring sand around our homes, but even that doesn’t work.
“Our children are always sick because they basically live in water, and this water is not clean so it causes other illnesses.”
Another resident,
Thandazwa Mrubata, had to stand on a crate in her spaza shop to keep dry.
“What you’re seeing now is still nothing. At least now most of the water is only in the shop section of my home. It comes in from all sides of the house, through the roof and the ground,” she said.
She said a makeshift step she had built outside her house helped to keep out the water.
“Usually I can’t even use a crate and I can’t even sell from the shop. I really don’t know what we are going to do because this is just the beginning,” Mrubata said.
Siyanda Dlepu was in a rainsuit and gumboots, still trying to sweep the water out, when the Weekend Argus visited his home, .
His cupboards were drenched in water and he was trying to raise them using planks.
“This is no way for a person to live, to be living in water.
“I have buckets all over the house because the water comes in from all over,” he said.
Community leader Lindikhaya Galeni said he had asked the city for assistance even before winter started, but had yet to receive a response.
Galeni said the rain added further financial pressure too, as people were forced to spend money on wet-weather gear just to live in their own homes.
Meanwhile, the South African Weather Service warned on Friday that heavy rainfalls were expected into Sunday, with flood warnings for the Cape metro, West Coast, Cape Winelands and the Overberg.
There were also warnings for gale-forces winds expected in the province on Sunday, with very rough seas expected from Alexander Bay to Plettenberg Bay between Sunday and Tuesday.
Disruptive snowfalls were also predicted in areas of the Northern Cape on Sunday.
Late on Saturday Solomons-Johannes said the supporting disaster response agencies were on high alert, and that the city had taken precautions for “extraordinary emergency procedures”.
“Emergency supplies for distribution of blankets, hot meals, sand and other specialised resources are stock-piled to deal with the impact of severe weather conditions forecast,” Solomons-Johannes said
“Additional staff are on duty at all contact centres to field complaints, reports and emergency calls from members of the public,” he said, adding that engineering teams were also conducting regular inspections of underground infrastructure.
Solomons-Johannes appealed to people to be careful.
“Slow down and maintain safe following distances on all roadways, as visibility may be impaired.
“Keep a watchful eye on open flames and extinguish them before going to bed.
“Boaters, fishermen, paddlers, surfers and anglers are to take heed of weather warnings, and always check official weather forecasts before going out,” he said. - Sunday Argus