By Leila Samodien
A Cape Town gardener is lucky to be alive after rain and winds toppled a huge old oak tree on to the garden shed he had left just minutes before.
Colin Poole said his gardener, whom he named only as Lennox, had been working in the shed. About two minutes after Lennox locked up and left for home, the tree smashed across Poole's fence and shed.
The tree, growing on the municipal verge of Garden Street in Fernwood Estate, Newlands, fell partly into Poole's garden, partly into his neighbour's. He estimated the damage to be R40 000. He had no doubt that the rough weather conditions had played a part in the tree uprooting. But Poole also said they had been concerned the tree was rotting, and had reported it to the municipality six months ago.
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The weather is not expected to let up anytime soon - it's going to be a cold, wet and cloudy week in Cape Town, according the Cape Town weather office. Stormy conditions settled over the city yesterday, resulting in strong winds, dark skies, heavy rains and low temperatures.
Disaster Risk Management spokeswoman Charlotte Powell said that by early evening the weather had not done any serious damage. Powell said all city services would be on high alert this week.
"We have received advisories from the weather office about strong winds, rough seas and rainy conditions.
"It seems to be normal Cape Town weather this time of year, but we will remain on high alert and liaise with the weather office."
According to the Weather SA website, most parts of the city can expect rain until Friday. The worst of it is forecast for today - an 80 percent chance of rain, with up to 24mm expected, a maximum temperature of 17176c, cloudy skies and a strong northwesterly breeze of 35km/h.
Cape Times Big Walk entrants are advised to take along their rain jackets.
Only 8mm of rain is expected tomorrow, but there won't be much sun. Conditions are expected to clear up only by Saturday.
Weather forecaster Carlton Fillis said a cold front was working together with a steep upper air low pressure system. This created instability in the atmospheric layer, which enhanced the system.
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This article was originally published on page 2 of Sunday Argus on November 08, 2009
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