Adverse weather conditions caused significant damage in parts of the Western Cape. Images: Facebook/ Stellenbosch Municiality.
Inclement weather leaves parts of Western Cape without electricity
Heavy downpours, severe thunderstorms, and damaging winds left several parts of the Western Cape without electricity.
Adverse weather conditions caused significant damage in parts of the Western Cape. Images: Facebook/ Stellenbosch Municiality.
Inclement weather conditions have resulted in prolonged electricity outages across the Western Cape.
Heavy downpours and gale-force winds caused significant damage in various parts of the province. The South African Weather Service (SAWS) had issued several impact-based warnings.
PARTS OF WESTERN CAPE WITHOUT ELECTRICITY
On Monday, Eskom said the extreme weather conditions led to multiple faults across the province.
The power utility said parts of the electricity network experienced minor structural damages, leading to a loss of supply to several areas.
Eskom said the electricity network remains vulnerable as inclement weather conditions continue to batter parts of the Western Cape.
“This has created challenges to electricity restoration efforts, creating a backlog. However, Eskom technicians are braving the bad weather to attend to these faults and restore electricity safely as soon as possible,” Eskom said.
“Eskom urges customers to remain patient and can expect prolonged periods without electricity supply,” the power utility added.
THE IMPACTED AREAS IN THE CITY OF CAPE TOWN INCLUDE:
- Philippi
- Mfuleni
- Strand/Lwandle
- Somerset West
- Silvertown
- KTC
- Gugulethu
- Mfuleni
- Fresnaye
- Athlone
- Overcome Heights
- Lansdowne
- Oranjezicht
- Rondebosch East
- Macassar beach
- Hazendal
- Bo Kaap
City of Cape Town Mayoral Committee Member for Energy Beverley van Reenen said teams are on the ground to attend to many electricity outages in the metro.
Van Reenen said, fortunately, they have already restored power supply in several storm-affected areas across the municipality.
“We will do our best to restore supply in the remaining areas. Damaged infrastructure typically takes some time to repair.
“Inclement weather leads to high service request volumes and longer outage durations. Where damage to infrastructure is concerned, it is unfortunately impossible to give accurate restoration times. We thank residents for their patience while we attend to all repairs,” she added.
SAWS ISSUES SEVERAL WARNINGS FOR THE CAPE
The South African Weather Service (SAWS) had forecast near-gale to gale force winds, with speeds of 62-80km/h and gusts up to 90-100km/h, over the City of Cape Town, Cape Winelands, and the Overberg from Saturday evening through Sunday.
The weather service said the prolonged duration of these winds is a cause for concern, as they could potentially lead to significant impacts.
On Saturday, the weather service had also warned that a combination of strong to near-gale / gale force winds and other weather conditions will lead to low water levels, resulting in a negative storm surge along the south-west to south-east coastline of South Africa in places between Western Cape and Eastern Cape.
