At least eight people have been killed by the storms that battered parts of the Western Cape over the long weekend.
The provincial government in the Western Cape said on Tuesday that deaths related to the storm are likely to increase as mop-up and rescue operations get underway.
The severe weather followed a level-nine warning by the SA Weather Service, which cautioned about disruptive rain and gale force winds on Sunday and Monday.
It has been attributed to a cut-off low system, which is notorious for causing widespread and severe weather such as flooding, heavy rainfall and severe thunderstorms.
By late on Monday, the weather services reported that the storms and strong winds were moving towards the Eastern Cape.
In one incident, the police found residents pulling the bodies of four boys from a local dam near the Klipfontein Mission Station informal settlement in Philippi on Monday.
City officials said the eight fatalities include four victims in the Covid-19 informal settlement in Driftsands and four children in the Philippi East area.
Rescue officials also helped six children trapped in three different houses in Strand, while a group of people was also evacuated from a retirement village in Somerset West.
Emergency teams also assisted with evacuations at Faure and Sandvlei in Macassar. In the Overberg region, officials said three people were presumed to have drowned.
In a statement, the weather service pleaded with the public to always adhere to weather advisories and warnings.
“The public is urged to regularly follow weather forecasts and warnings on television, radio, as well as on all social media platforms.”
Charlotte Powell, spokesperson for the city’s disaster risk management, said on Monday that authorities had opened sluice gates at the Wemmershoek Dam.
“The storm shows no signs of subsiding and Cape Town’s authorities remain on high alert,” Powell said at the time.
“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.”
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 affected areas of the Western Cape and Eastern Cape.
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