WATCH | Winter rain floods roads, disrupts train services in Cape Town

Winter arrived with a bang as rain and wind lashed the Cape Peninsula overnight, leaving roads and informal settlements flooded, downing trees and temporarily halting some passenger train services in Cape Town.

Disaster risk management centre (DRMC) spokesperson Charlotte Powell said on Wednesday: “We can confirm that numerous roads have been flooded. There is also a report of a mudslide along Philip Kgosana Drive.

“The Jakkalsvlei Canal burst its banks, as well as the Lourens and Kayser rivers, flooding a Johnson & Johnson factory in Tokai. The Lourens river overflow affected an Eskom sub station in Somerset West. Technicians were working to restore power in the Helderberg area.

“Kay’s Caravan Park in Strand is being evacuated. The Help-n-Hand NGO is accommodating the residents. Various informal settlements in Philippi, Strand, Gugulethu, Mfuleni, Masiphumelele and Khayelitsha have been flooded. DRMC officials are still busy with assessments,” said Powell.

“Sassa and other NGOs have been requested to provide humanitarian relief to the affected informal settlements.”

Humanitarian relief organisation Gift of the Givers said calls for assistance had been “pouring” in from 4am.

“We have been called by the Breede Valley municipality, Theewaters Kloof municipality, and Saldanha Bay Disaster Management for our assistance. Many communities had been evacuated and placed in community halls. Gift of the Givers are distributing blankets, warm clothing and hot meals. Our teams will be visiting more areas in the coming days,” the organisation said in a statement.

Gift of the Givers teams were sent to areas affected by flooding including Gugulethu, KTC, Nyanga, Khayelitsha, Langa, Bishop Lavis, Mitchells Plain, Grabouw, Chatsworth, Atlantis and Strand.

The SA Weather Service issued warnings for heavy rain, rough seas and damaging winds in the Western Cape on Wednesday and Thursday. Temperatures were expected to be below 10°C in places in the Namakwa district of the Northern Cape and interior of the Western Cape and Eastern Cape throughout the week.

Metrorail spokesperson Zino Mihi said a “limited service” was being provided to passengers.

“Metrorail Western Cape is operating a limited service today [Wednesday] due to extreme weather conditions that resulted in a tree that fell on the traction and signal power cables at Wittebome station on the southern line,” said Mihi.

“The fallen tree affected the electrical overhead wires, impacting the running of the train service.”

Train services had been suspended along the southern line, Cape Flats, central line and the northern line. A limited service was running along the Malmesbury route — which ends in Kraaifontein — and from Kraaifontein to Bellville, Eerste River to Bellville and Simon’s Town to Fish Hoek.

“We understand the inconvenience caused to our customers and we would like to provide an update on the challenges faced and the intervention measures being implemented. As the region, we continue to prioritise the safety and wellbeing of our customers in ensuring we restore the service by putting intervention measures in place,” said Mihi.

“Our response teams were deployed to assess the situation, ensure the safety of the area and initiated the necessary repair works.

“Our technicians and engineers have been working to repair the damaged traction power cable and to restore the power supply in the affected area. This process involves inspections, repairs and rigorous safety checks to guarantee the highest level of reliability.

Every effort is being made to restore the service as quickly and safely as possible.”

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