Strong winds wreak havoc as cold front hits the WC

As strong winds and heavy rainfall persist, the City of Cape Town says its Disaster Risk Management Centre is on high alert for any incidents caused by the adverse weather.

On Monday, the South African Weather Services issued several weather warnings as an intense cold front made landfall in the province on Tuesday, which will persist into Wednesday.

A Yellow level 2 warning for rain resulting in localised flooding of roads and settlements is currently in place for the Cape Winelands, City of Cape Town and parts of the West Coast.

The weather services have also upgraded the Yellow Level 2 warning for damaging winds to an Orange Level 6 warning for interior winds resulting in disruption of travel services and damage to settlements. These strong winds are expected over the City of Cape Town, Garden Route, Overberg, Cape Winelands and Central Karoo on Tuesday late morning until the evening. Potential impacts could include uprooted trees and damage to roofs, amongst others.

The City has urged residents to secure objects on their properties that could be carried by the wind, like outside furniture, and to be mindful of potential damage to garage doors, sliding doors and windows.

Tuesday morning’s gale-force winds led to the collapse of the overhead entrance sign at Access Park in Kenilworth. Fortunatey, the shopping centre says no one was injured by the collapse. Video of the incident have since been widely spread on social media pages.

🟡UPDATE: Access Park says no-one was injured and none of the shops were damaged after the overhead sign collapsed this morning amid gale-force winds. Access Park is open, shoppers are asked to use the back entrance. #smile904fmnews pic.twitter.com/Jxwr7Q9WrP

— Smile90.4 FM (@Smile904FM) August 27, 2024

Eskom says approximately 14 000 customers are without electricity supply due to faults caused by severe weather conditions across the province.

From the network faults reported in the past 24 hours, areas affected are listed below:

Bluedowns
Breede Valley
Delft
Grabouw
Hermanus,
Standford,
Gansbaai
Khayelitsha
Northpine,
Wallacedene and surrounding farms

“The electricity network will be vulnerable as parts of the Western Cape province braces itself for damaging winds, after the South African Weather Service issued a level 6 warning.”

The power utility says this could potentially affect restoration efforts and further exacerbate the current backlog of faults that has been prioritised.

As for the City of Cape Town customers, their electricity restoration times will also see some delays in areas experiencing power outages.

This includes:

Newlands,
Eagle Park,
Rondebosch,
Gugulethu,
Milnerton,
Pinelands,
Lansdowne,
Wynberg
and Fish Hoek

The City says its teams are also attending to the electricity area faults. These outages were primarily caused by damage from the inclement weather, as well as theft, vandalism and illegal connections.

“Damaged infrastructure may take longer to repair. The safety situation in an area also impacts repair work and restoration times as law enforcement escorts may be required. Regrettably, it is not possible to give an accurate time of restoration.”

Planned critical maintenance is being carried out in Strand, Protea Heights, Tafelsig and Rondebosch

According to the SA Weather Services, has advised that these adverse weather is expectd to subside by Thursday.