After two days of heavy rainfall across Cape Town, residents in low-lying areas and informal settlements are already experiencing flooded homes and weather-related discomfort.
The City of Cape Town says flooding has been reported in a number of informal settlements in Gugulethu, Khayelitsha, Macassar and Strand.
Disaster Risk management says with downpours expected to continue for the rest of the day, there is also a level 2 warning for damaging winds between Cape Point and Cape Agulhas.
With the onset of winter, residents in Lwandle are already bracing for what’s still to come. Some, in the Simanyene informal settlement, say after the persistent rainfall they are already struggling with waterlogged shacks and blocked drains.
“Every winter, every year we have got floods here and another thing we have a canal here and the canal is going to flood,” says Noxolo Silala, Simanyene informal settlement resident.
Disaster management says its monitoring high-risk areas and determining the need for humanitarian help where impacts have been reported.
“When the heavy rain comes in the winter, people must have good places where they stay but our municipality doesn’t care about the people in this area,” says Nozipho Salakuvunylwa, a Lwandle hostels resident.
Video: Weather warning in the Western Cape
The municipality says its roads department is assisting with unblocking roads and providing milling and sand in some areas. Electricity teams are dealing with weather-related outages.
“The rain is making lots of damage in all of our places. It’s very cold, we must take all the water with buckets and the children are there and it’s not going well because it’s too much rain and the places we are living in is not well so children can get sick,” says Dillon Ronald Phillips, a Broadlands Park resident.
In the Pholile informal settlement, residents have queued for humanitarian aid and a warm meal.
“We got frantic calls from the communities in Lwandle, Nomzamo and Strand as well as other areas where we got phone calls throughout the night, but it was decided to come out to Lwandle. A lot of the people’s homes have been damaged, food destroyed, clothing destroyed so we have got our teams that are here today that will be providing warm meals, blankets and food,” says Dr Naeem Kathrada, from Gift of the Givers.
Road users have been urged to exercise caution, amid a warning for damaging winds.
Video: W. Cape Storms – Gift of the Givers inundated with appeals for help from distressed residents
