Cape Town - The Western Cape Disaster Management Centre has been alerted by the South African Weather Service that adverse weather conditions is expected from lunchtime Friday, across large parts of the Western Cape continuing into the weekend.
According to the South African Weather Service, strong westerly to north-westerly winds (40-60 km/h) can be expected from the morning onwards over the entire Western Cape ahead of the arrival of the cold front.
Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning MEC, Anton Bredell says the province is expecting heavy rain, strong, damaging winds and potentially flashfloods in some areas.
“While we welcome the expected rain, we are concerned about the impact of a big storm and we want to caution the public to be cautious over the next few days when moving around outdoors.”
Bredell says all municipalities in the province have already been alerted. In addition Disaster Management and fire and rescue services have also been alerted and will be on standby to assist communities negatively affected by the storm.
“The Provincial Disaster Management Centre will be meeting tomorrow morning to assess the situation. We will provide further updates following that meeting. Some good news is the fact that it is school holidays at the moment, which means traffic volumes will be less tomorrow.”
The Minister has called on the public to contact the relevant disaster management entities as quickly as possible should an emergency occur.
He has also called on communities to cooperate with local authorities and emergency response personnel in the event of any emergency.
“The easiest number to remember to call in an emergency is 112. This number can be dialled toll-free from any cell phone.”
Cape Argus