Cape Town - Heavy rains have lashed the Western Cape with the city receiving a number of flooding reports.
On Thursday, the city’s Disaster Risk spokeswoman Mandy Thomas confirmed they had received reports from informal settlements in Monwabisi Park, Khayelitsha, Nomzamo, Chris Hani Park, Simanyene New Village in Strand and New Crossroads, Barcelona and Mashulanga in Gugulethu.
Thomas said the NY 63 roadway was also flooded. “So far we have received several reports of flooding. The city’s response operation staff are at the various areas doing assessments.”
On Tuesday, the South African Weather Service warned of flooding due to the 80 percent chance of rain that was predicted.
Grabouw residents were also affected by the floods.
Frans Mavusa, whose Grabouw home had flooded, said that this was not the first time that water had entered his home, ruining his furniture, tiles and other valuables.
“I had to build a wall around my house to stop the water from coming in. These floods happen every year and there’s nothing we can do about it, the municipality needs to make a plan because we are losing a lot of valuables.”
Mavusa and his family had to close the doors, move the furniture around and lay down blankets and towels to soak up the water once the rain had stopped.
Meanwhile, the provincial Department of Transport and Public Works has warned that Chapman’s Peak Drive could be closed to traffic this winter.
Department spokesman Byron la Hoe said motorists should expect intermittent road closures on Chapman’s Peak Drive whenever high-risk weather conditions make the road unsafe.
“The area is very exposed to strong winds, and there is a high risk of rockfalls and mudslides down the steep mountain slopes.”
La Hoe said Entilini, the concessionaire managing the road on behalf of the Western Cape government, had an incident management procedure which provided for the road to be closed when wind speeds reached 54km/h, after which the road would be monitored for three hours and reopened only once conditions were safe.
He said it advised that when there was steady or heavy rainfall, the road would be pre-emptively closed because of the risk of mudslides and rockfalls.
La Hoe said motorists were requested to use Ou Kaapseweg when the road was closed. He said Chapman’s Peak Drive will be reopened as soon as conditions were safe. Information on the Chapman’s Peak roads can be sourced on Twitter @ChapmansPeakSA, Facebook, www.chapmanspeakdrive.co.za or by calling 021 791 8222.
Cape Argus