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| Freak storm hits |
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Staff Reporters June 26 2007 at 11:56AM |
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The violent storms which lashed the province overnight have left more than 500 people homeless in the city and carpeted the mountain ranges with snow. 'It's snowing as we speak!' Slightly less than 35mm fell in the City Bowl and 26.4mm at the airport. In Sutherland, Allistar Gibbons, of the Karoo Hoogland tourism office, reported this morning: "It's snowing as we speak! "The mountains are totally covered in snow. And the pass you use to get to us, Verlatenkloof Pass on the R354 from Matjiesfontein, is completely blocked. The police have just informed us that it's unsafe for vehicles because of the heavy snow." The temperature dropped to just above freezing on Monday night and the Cape Town Weather Office predicted a maximum of just 4?C for Sutherland on Tuesday. The nearest snowfall to Cape Town could be seen on the Hottentots Holland mountains above Somerset West on Tuesday morning. The severe weather conditions stem from a cold front which swept in off the Atlantic. The cold front wreaked havoc across greater Cape Town with heavy rainfall and blustery conditions causing flooding, power cuts and extensive damage. Disaster Management spokesperson Johan Minnie said this morning that wind and flood damage displaced 500 people in the Lotus informal settlement in Gugulethu and 20 in Lwandle. Flooding also drove out 14 residents of Du Noon. Residents of the Lotus informal settlement were given shelter for the night at a community centre in the area and relief packages would be taken to them later today. Minnie said some roads in Strand were hit by flooding. "Along Du Toitskloof pass, there were streams and waterfalls all over the mountains and it was quite a strong front that moved in," Minnie said. Elsewhere: Owner Bruce Cawcutt said: "There was a big bang. I got up to close a window and saw half my roof lying on my stoep." Cawcutt said he had called a furniture removal company to urgently clear out his house - before five rooms were flooded overnight. Residents of Zille Rain Heights in Grassy Park huddled together for warmth by flickering bonfires on the sides of their flooded streets early today. "Most of the houses here have been flooded, it started with the rains on Saturday," said Zille Rain Heights committee member Zane Matthews. He had spent all of yesterday evening digging trenches to divert rising water from his doorstep. "The water was about 15 cm high, it's like a beach out here," he said. "Everyone is digging for their own safety. "It's terrible, we can't even go to the toilet, be cause there's a river in the way." The shack where Eleanor Hoedemaker and her husband Neil Jacobs live was nearly blown away by heavy storms last year, so they raised the structure on bricks during the summer to prevent flooding. Now they are sheltering their son, Abdurathmaan Snyders, his wife Shiehaan and their three-year-old son Yakeem until Disaster Management officials can help drain their home. "When we woke up, the water was coming in from underneath the door," said Snyders. "The Disaster Management engineers said it was too late and they'd have to come back tomorrow." Ishlene Fanziel, 23, kept a close watch on the fire warming her and her family. She had learnt from bitter experience. During the stormy winter last year, a gust of wind knocked over her fire and set her house aflame. "We lost everything," she said. "The fires are dangerous but we must use them to keep warm. There is no electricity or gas." Relief is on the way, with sunny and mild conditions on Wednesday after more rain on Tuesday, the weather office says.
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