Residents in Cape Town and surrounding areas have been advised to exercise extreme caution following reports of damaging storm and flooding in some areas.
The reports follow heavy rains that battered parts of the Western Cape overnight.
On Monday, the City of Cape Town and disaster risk management attended to various cases reported across the province.
Charlotte Powell, spokesperson for the city’s disaster risk management, said authorities have proactively opened sluice gates at the Wemmershoek Dam.
“The storm shows no signs of subsiding and Cape Town’s authorities remain on high alert,” said Powell.
“Opening the gates of the dam is a strategic move to lower water levels and prevent potential disasters in regions located along the overflowing Lourens and Eerste River, which have breached their banks due to the relentless rainfall.”
Meanwhile, Chapman’s Peak Drive, a route that attracts thousands of tourists because of its most beautiful sceneries in Cape Town, announced the closure of the road due to severe weather conditions and flooding.
The bad weather conditions also forced Eskom to suspend loadshedding in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape on Monday.
“Due to widespread damage to electricity infrastructure caused by flooding in the Western and Eastern Cape coastal areas, loadshedding will be suspended,” it said in a statement.
The power utility said the move will ensure that its technical teams restore the supply of electricity safely.”
On Friday, the South African Weather Service warned about the possibility of damaging storms in some parts of the Cape provinces.
At the time, the weather service said the storms were expected to get worse between Monday and Tuesday.
“Widespread showers and thundershowers can be expected across western, central and southern South Africa, particularly from Sunday onwards,” it said in a statement.
“However, notable uncertainty exists regarding the position and spatial distribution of the cut-off low at this current time, and further analysis will be required.”
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