Photo: Supplied
Photo: Supplied
We think we’ve found the ultimate piece of serendipity. While the Cape Town storms caused flooding and devastation across the municipality, there was room for humour amongst the madness. Even if Annarette Blom didn’t know she was about to launch herself to viral fame.
The manager at Bloubergstrand’s On The Rocks restaurant described the scene as the stiff 75km/h gales battered their eatery. Chairs went flying, canopies lifted from their fixed structures and tents were thrown into the air. The scene would have been apocalyptic if it wasn’t tempered by the brilliance of Blom.
The new “My Fok, Marelize”?
One child asks to go outside during the swirling winds, for some reason. They are met with a very stern warning – in Afrikaans, may we add, making the whole interchange even more engrossing. The youngster eventually ends up in tears. To put it in Annarette’s words, the whole incident was “a fat fuck up”:
“Oh damn, the roof has blown away. Oh f***, there goes the tent, there go the chairs! [Talking to child] No you can’t go outside, you’re going to f****** blow away! This is a fat f*** up.”
Annarette Blom
#CapeTownWeather – think the storm gave us a new “My Fok Marelize” moment… pic.twitter.com/eZfCajzam5
— Tom (@WiggumCharm) July 24, 2019
Damage caused by the Cape Town storms
Thankfully, there were no injuries or fatalities to report from the incident. But the situation wasn’t so easily ridden-out by others. Over 3 000 homes have been directly affected by the flooding, in some of the poorest regions.
Imizamo Yethu in Hout Bay and Makhaza in Khayelitsha were left submerged by the flash floods. Meanwhile, Disaster management spokesperson Charlotte Powell confirmed that roofs have also been damaged by strong winds in Mamre, the Strand, Gugulethu and Belhar.
A number of roadways in Southfield, Grassy Park, Kuils River and Durbanville were also flooded on Tuesday evening thanks to the Cape Town storms, but have since been cleared. Although this wild weather is ultimately good news for the drought-threatened city, it comes with a very real human cost.
