By Craig McKune
Hundreds of residents, mostly in informal settlements, had to be evacuated as heavy showers wreaked chaos throughout the city on Sunday, flooding homes and roads as rivers burst their banks.
Once again, poor Capetonians have been hardest hit. Hundreds had to be evacuated from shacks in low lying areas. Others spent the night cold and wet.
Swamped with calls, the city's disaster services could not give the extent of the damage last night, but said at least 1 000 people in informal areas were flooded out.
And there is more bad weather to come. The SA weather office has warned that very cold, wet and windy conditions, as well as snowfalls, are expected in high-lying areas today and tomorrow.
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Both the Liesbeeck and Black rivers burst their banks yesterday, flooding parts of Rondebosch, Newlands and Observatory. Homes were flooded and cars submerged.
On the banks of the Liesbeeck, River Club owner Dewald Swanepoel waded waist deep with his umbrella.
"The entire parking lot is under water," said restaurant manager Andre Kalenda. They had evacuated all patrons when the river was near to bursting its banks, but several buildings were flooded.
A flooded M5 freeway had to be closed.
Meanwhile, torrents of water sent boulders and sediment tumbling down Camps Bay Drive last night, and a landslide blocked the outgoing lane at Kloof Nek.
Above Newlands Avenue, Albert Vianello's wall was pushed over as a stream grew to a flood.
"The tributary couldn't take it. With all the pressure against the vibrocrete wall, the water pushed it over and it gushed down over people's houses.
"You know, we're living on the mountain. So we're competing with nature here," he said.
"There has been widespread flooding across the city and it's very difficult to tell the extent of the damage at this stage," said Greg Pillay, head of the city's Disaster Risk Management Centre. "A lot of rivers and canals are going over their banks."
About 200 people were evacuated from shacks in Ocean View and taken in at a community centre, disaster spokesperson Charlotte Powell said.
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