Weather warnings: Eastern, Western Capes on high alert for flash floods

Have you battened down the hatches, those of you between the Eden District and Port Elizabeth? The South African Weather Service (Saws) have issued severe weather warnings across the south-west coast.

In total, 12 warnings are in place for flash floods, heavy rain and even disruptive snowfall on Friday. This follows our report that areas east of Port Elizabeth in the EC are on course for 50-100mm of rain over a 72-hour period. When that much falls in such a short space of time, there are problems.

Dam levels in Port Elizabeth (NMB)

The Nelson Mandela Bay (NMB) municipality has been crying out for some heavy precipitation after its combined dam levels dropped to just 17% this week. Towns like Hankey and Patensie have even been put on water shedding schedules – a bumper rainfall accumulation could change that, however.

Be careful with where you’re getting your information from though, folks. Some fake news merchants decided to add a zero to these forecasts, claiming that “1000mm of rain” was destined for the Capes. Saws have moved to dismiss this non-story, which spread like wildfire on social media.

We have been made aware of a message going around on WhatsApp about a storm that will affect the EC, bringing 1000mm of rain. This is a hoax message, moreover, we would like to emphasize that SAWS doesn’t use WhatsApp as a platform for issuing alerts. See FB for details. pic.twitter.com/lidjvxZdLu

— SA Weather Service (@SAWeatherServic) September 6, 2018

SA Weather warnings for Friday 7 September