Cape Town experienced a severe weather event on Thursday, with intense winds tearing off roofs and uprooting trees. The third cold front in five days has caused numerous damage to residential areas, flooded roadways, and electricity outages. Schools were closed due to safety concerns due to a level 8 warning of disruptive rain, and at least 15,000 people have been affected. Roofs were blown off houses and overhead electrical cables damaged in the suburb of Wynberg.
The city's public emergency communication centre (PECC) logged 339 incidents between 6pm and 6am on Thursday, with over 40% of the calls being weather-related. 54 calls were received about flooding of homes and severe weather conditions, while 85 calls related to road conditions, including motor vehicle accidents and trees obstructing roads. Teams have attended to hundreds of electricity service requests related to storm damage.
South African National Parks (SANParks) has closed off sections of Table Mountain National Park and the whole of Tankwa Karoo National Park due to flooding and heavy snowfall. The Cape Point overnight hiking trail and roads to Overseers Cottage, Olifantsbos Cottage, Smitswinkel and Slangkop tented camps were temporarily closed. All access roads leading to Tankwa Karoo National Park were closed due to snowfall.
Emergency services were on high alert in George along the Garden Route, where winds of up to 60km/h were expected on Thursday. Emergency personnel were attending to fallen trees obstructing roads and power outages in the city.
