This photo taken outside Old Bridge restaurant shows the Lourens river bursting its banks. Image: Ilona Norman
WATCH: Lourens river bursts its banks causing major power outage
Parts of the Western Cape are experiencing major disruption and flooding after a series of cold fronts began to make landfall.
This photo taken outside Old Bridge restaurant shows the Lourens river bursting its banks. Image: Ilona Norman
In the Cape Winelands and Overberg districts, some areas received up to 80mm of rain on Tuesday, after the South African Weather Service (SAWS) issued a Yellow Level 2 & 6 warning for disruptive rain and possible flooding.
The rain has caused flooding in low-lying areas and in Somerset West and Stellenbosch, the Lourens river burst its banks. Videos were shared across various WhatsApp groups on Tuesday morning…
ALSO READ: Level 6 WARNING: Heavy rain, flooding in Cape Town, Winelands
READ ALSO: PICS: Dam overflows in George after record rainfall
Power outages have also been reported after the deluge flooded and damaged the Somerset West Eskom sub-station. A large area electricity outage in the Helderberg region is impacting Gordon’s Bay, Strand and surrounds. The City of Cape Town announced that Eskom staff are attending to the outage.
READ ALSO: Cape Town storm: Burst river banks, substation damage, and an evacuation
Rain is expected to continue in the Western Cape, with accumulations of up to 45mm possible in some areas. The weather service’s Level 6 warning for disruptive rainfall in the province remains valid until midnight on Thursday.
READ ALSO: WATCH: Roads washed away, houses flooded in Overstrand
This video was taken in front of the Old Bridge restaurant in Somerset West…
SAWS warned of the impacts of the inclement weather during this period, including:
– heavy downpours resulting in flooding, leading to difficult driving conditions and minor vehicle accidents, especially over dirt roads. Damage to infrastructure in formal and informal areas.
– Disruption to essential services.
– Mudslides and rock falls are possible.
– Danger to life (crossing fast flowing streams)
Elsewhere, Tuesday’s and Wednesday morning’s rain also caused the Jakkalsvlei Canal in Langa and the Keysers river near Dreyersdal to burst their banks. According to Disaster Risk Management Centre (DRMC) spokesperson Charlotte Powell, the latter has caused flooding at the Johnson and Johnson factory in Tokai.
