Cape Town - Severe rainstorms lashed Cape Town and other parts of the drought-stricken Western Cape overnight, leading to severe flooding in places and hopes that dams in the region would have received a significant boost.
The City of Cape Town's Disaster Management Centre reported that extensive flooding occurred in the city's northern suburbs of Goodwood, Parow, Ravensmead, Belhar and Bellville South due to heavy downpours and galeforce winds.
The City's Charlotte Powell said: "Approximately 150 residential properties have been affected. Roofs have been blown off in Sir Lowry's Pass Village and a few properties have been damaged. Trees have been uprooted in Parow, Goodwood, Constantia, and Belhar areas.
"Power lines came down in Goodwood, Parow Valley, Langa, Bergvliet, Durbanville, and Maitland areas and mudslides have been reported in the Hout Bay area."
A law enforcement officer was also hospitalised with slight injuries after a tree fell on a law enforcement vehicle on Constantia Main road.
PICS: Heavy rains, gale force winds wreak havoc in Cape Town
The City’s recreation and parks department was on Friday morning removing uprooted trees across the metropole to ensure roadways are cleared while the roads and stormwater department is unblocking drains.
Disaster management officials are continuing to do damage assessments in the affected communities.
According to Powell, by lunchtime the roads and stormwater department had cleared most roadways and unblocked drains across the city. She said Chapman’s Peak Drive was open to traffic, but mudslides in Hout Bay and Camps Bay had not been cleared yet in the early afternoon.
The City’s Traffic Service was manning a stop-and-go system between Bakoven and Suikerbossie. Uprooted trees had been cleared and technicians were onsite restoring electricity in a number of areas including Parow Valley, Langa, Durbanville, Mfuleni, Bridgetown, Constantia, Cape Farms and Clovelly.
She said flooding had occurred at various Community Day Centres, including Belhar, Parow, and Ravensmead and patients were being referred to other nearby facilities.
Vrijzee Preparatory School in Goodwood was flooded and learners had been sent home and the department of education had been contacted for a flood damage assessment.
Dam levels in the drought-stricken region have risen in recent days, with average dam levels sitting at 24% full. The Western Cape's biggest dam, the Theewaterskloof dam which supplies the bulk of Cape Town's water, was, however, still only at 14.9% full as of Wednesday.
By Thursday, the overall dam levels had reached 25.1%, with Theewaterskloof at 15.9%, but that was before the deluge on Thursday night and into Friday.