Gale force winds strip Cape winelands homes of their roofs

Several incidents of structural damage were reported due to gale force winds as 30 homes lost their roofs in the winelands districts in the Western Cape on Sunday. 

“Last night we activated our emergency response teams to address urgent concerns, damage to infrastructure, homes, and property, and help affected individuals and communities,” said executive mayor of Drakenstein municipality Stephen Korabie. 

“We are aware of more than 30 houses in Drakenstein that have lost their roofs. Some homes also suffered structural damage. We are making emergency accommodation available to residents in need in our community halls across Drakenstein.” 

Teams were deployed on the ground to remove fallen trees and debris, [and] repair power lines and wind-related damage such as collapsed roofs and traffic lights, while many households battle power outages and water service interruptions.

Insurer Santam said it had received 160 claims in the past 48 hours for damages caused by inclement weather there.

Eskom says the extreme weather conditions have left some parts of the the province without electricity. There was minor structural damage to parts of its network on Monday, leading to loss of supply in Beaufort West, Kraaifontein, Khayelitsha, Klawer and surrounding farms, Kylemore, Gordon’s Bay, Sir Lowry’s Pass, Somerset West, Stellenbosch farms and Vredendal. 

“The electricity network remains vulnerable as parts of the province continue to experience gale force winds, heavy rain and thunderstorms. This has created challenges to electricity restoration efforts, creating a backlog,” said Eskom. “However, customers are assured Eskom technicians are braving the bad weather to attend to the faults and safely restore electricity as soon as possible.

Tru-Cape’s pome producers in Ceres are currently assessing the damages and losses caused by gale-force winds and rain at the weekend.

“We are currently doing a damage assessment, but at the moment it seems as if our production areas weren’t hit as hard as the Helderberg and Stellenbosch areas. We will have more information in the next few days,” says Roelf Pienaar, MD of Tru-Cape Fruit Marketing.

According to Chris Knoetze, MD of Link Supply Chain Management, the port of Cape Town has been wind-bound since Thursday. The port cannot operate when the wind speed exceeds 80km/h.

“It is expected that operations will be on and off for the time being, as allowed by the wind.”

For Laastedrif Agri, it was an extremely difficult season. First, it was hit by hail in February, and over the weekend the strong winds caused havoc in its orchards.

“We are still in the process of determining the scope of the damage but on parts of the farm, Pink Lady and Rosy Glow apples were blown from the trees. We also lost lambs due to the cold and rain. But we farm under the open skies and have to find ways to live with these challenges,” says Rossouw Cillié, proprietor of Laastedrift Agri.

“Hopefully the damage looks worse than it is, and fortunately approximately 80% of our crop is already harvested.”

There was also slight infrastructure damage to a few roofs at Laastedrif Agri.

Meanwhile, Gauteng residents have been advised to remain alert and observe safety measures amid severe thundershowers. While no incidents were reported in Johannesburg, Tshwane emergency management services (EMS) spokesperson Charles Mabaso said a few incidents were reported at the weekend.

Two vehicles were stuck in water on Hector Peterson Road and Solomon Mahlangu Drive in Mamelodi East and were assisted by firefighters who managed to evacuate them safely. An incident of flooding was also reported in Mamelodi East.

Mulaudzi said the city’s aquatic rescue unit, a specialised unit that responds to water-related emergencies, remains on high alert, monitoring all seven regions of the city.

TimesLIVE