Cape Town's disaster management workers continued removing debris and unblocking stormwater drains on Tuesday after heavy rains that drove thousands from their homes.
Charlotte Powell, a spokesperson for Cape Town's disaster and emergency management, said about 20 000 people had left their homes, mainly in informal settlements around the city.
"About 63 informal settlements have been affected," Powell said.
"About 20 000 people are being given shelter and hot meals by relief agencies. At the moment roadways are being cleared of debris and storm water drains are being unblocked." Continues Below ↓
Traffic leading into Cape Town, north of the city, was reported to have been jammed on Tuesday morning after flooding in the area.
On Monday, the Lourens River in Strand and Liesbeek River outside the city burst their banks.
Floods also hit suburbs such as Newlands, Rondebosch, Claremont and Somerset West.
The South African Weather Service Cape Town said on Monday that the weather office at Cape Town International Airport had recorded the second-highest rainfall for a 24-hour period in July since recording started in 1957.
The station recorded 55.2mm for the 24 hours from 8am on Sunday to 8am on Monday. The highest figure recorded for a 24-hour period in July was 61mm in 1985.
Forecasters expect the weather to clear by Wednesday. - Sapa
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Showing page 1 of 1 comment pages, 2 total comments
30 Weeks ago WeatherHappens wrote :
Three years we were told by our illustrious minister of environmental affairs that with immediate the Western Cape would begin having drier winters with immediate effect because of man-made global warming. What a croc. Since the prognostication by environmental sages the past three winters have been wet. But I am sure the savants won't be deterred, they will now blame storms like the one we just had on "climate change".
30 Weeks ago Sickofbeggars wrote :
If the people that live in these settlements would not dump their rubbish all over the place, then it would end up blocking the drains and flooding their houses. They don't care about what the place looks like, make a damn mess of everything they touch, who's paying for all of this? Now that there's something wrong everyone is standing with outstretched palms.
Operation mop up! Hundreds of shack dwellers in parts of Cape Town worked through the night dredging up water and mud from their homes. Photo: Independent Newspapers
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