Weather causes chaos in Western Cape
By Caryn Dolley, Noah Barron and Wesley April
Heavy rains have wreaked havoc, with flooding in Moorreesburg, the derailment of a freight train in which a Transnet worker was seriously injured, and gridlock paralysing major routes throughout Cape Town.
In Moorreesburg, about 100km from Cape Town, about 18 people whose homes were damaged by torrential rain were moved to the Rosenhof Community Hall.
The levels of the Berg and Olifants had risen dangerously and the rivers were threatening to burst their banks.
About 118mm of rain had fallen since Wednesday afternoon, said Wilhelm Markus, director of corporate services of the West Coast District Municipality.
"It's still raining," he said, speaking at noon.
"The area, localised to the town itself, is flooded.
"No injuries have been reported, but about 150 houses have water in them."
Markus and disaster management volunteers were going door-to-door to find out the extent of the damage and how many homes needed to be evacuated.
Metro EMS personnel based in Tygerberg, Cape Town, were sent to the town to assist.
A helicopter had to be stood down, however, because it was raining too heavily.
"There's so much water on the roads that no one can get outside," Markus said.
"Most roads are blocked. The rain... (is) falling heavily."
Roxanne Lubber said water was seeping into her Moorreesburg home when she woke up at 8am.
"We had to make holes in the walls for the water to escape and put sandbags in front of the house."
Ansu Lotter, who lived near the Berg River, said she had not seen such a storm in a number of years.
"It's been raining and raining. I haven't seen anything like this in about five years.
"At the moment I'm just stuck inside my house because it's too cold and wet to go outside. Luckily, my house hasn't been flooded, but my friends are much worse off."
About five kilometres north of the town, a 24-carriage freight train on its way to Piketberg left the tracks at 2.30pm as it crossed a flooded section of a farm owned by Jannie Smit.
A man, one of five people on board the train, broke his pelvis and ribs.
When the Cape Times reached the crash site, the seriously injured man was lying beside the railway line, shaking with shock.
As emergency personnel prepared to place them on stretchers, the four others who had been on the train looked dazed. Their faces were caked with mud.
The Metro EMS rescue helicopter airlifted them, one by one, to waiting vehicles.
The seriously injured man was flown directly to Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town.
Municipal manager Wessel Rabbets said it appeared the train had become derailed because of debris washed onto the tracks by the flooding.
Investigators at the scene, however, speculated that saturated soil beneath the tracks had collapsed under the weight of the asphalt-laden carriages, mangling the tracks and hurling the train on to its side.
Francois Geffroy, a meteorologist of SA Weather Service, said the rain in town would persist until Tuesday but it would not be as heavy as Thursday's.
"It will be cloudy and rain on and off until Tuesday. A cold front hits on Monday bringing more rain, which is expected to subside on Tuesday morning," he said.
Meanwhile, a truck transporting fish overturned and lost its load on Settlers Way on Thursday. Maxwell said the truck caused a gridlock of all outward bound routes shortly after 12pm.
Maxwell said Metro Police officers had encouraged motorists to use alternative routes to leave the city.
Late on Thursday, he said three outgoing lanes were open for traffic, while two were closed as some fish was still being cleared off the road.
Maxwell said the cause of the accident was unknown. "I can't say the weather is to blame as the driver should have been aware of the conditions."
He said another truck picked up the load and the city's cleansing department cleared up shortly after 6pm.
Maxwell expected traffic to have returned to normal by Thursday night.
Councillor Simon Grindrod, mayor member for economic development, said late on Thursday night that he would launch an in-depth investigation in to why a single overturned vehicle could cause city-wide gridlock for four hours. He planned to seek answers from head of traffic Heathliff Thomas on Friday.
Also on Thursday, a passenger and pedestrian were killed when a taxi and City Golf collided. Fourteen people were injured.
The taxi and car collided at the corner of Vanguard Drive and Bolfor Circle, Metro Police spokesperson Kevin Maxwell said.
A passenger in the car and a pedestrian who had been walking nearby were killed.
Ten taxi commuters were seriously injured and four others sustained minor injuries.
Maaxwell said the taxi driver had run away after the accident and police officers were searching for him. It was unknown what had caused the accident.
Police spokesperson Randall Stoffels said the police were investigating a case of culpable homicide.
In other incidents, a truck overturned and a Kirstenhof house was damaged by fire.
A Cape Town Fire Command and Control officer said the truck driver sustained minor injuries.
The house in Harmony Road was gutted in the blaze. A firefighter said two water pumps and a tanker had extinguished the flames and no one was injured. The cause of the fire was being investigated.
Article from http://www.iol.co.za/
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Heavy rains have wreaked havoc, with flooding in Moorreesburg, the derailment of a freight train in which a Transnet worker was seriously injured, and gridlock paralysing major routes throughout Cape Town.
In Moorreesburg, about 100km from Cape Town, about 18 people whose homes were damaged by torrential rain were moved to the Rosenhof Community Hall.
The levels of the Berg and Olifants had risen dangerously and the rivers were threatening to burst their banks.
About 118mm of rain had fallen since Wednesday afternoon, said Wilhelm Markus, director of corporate services of the West Coast District Municipality.
"It's still raining," he said, speaking at noon.
"The area, localised to the town itself, is flooded.
"No injuries have been reported, but about 150 houses have water in them."
Markus and disaster management volunteers were going door-to-door to find out the extent of the damage and how many homes needed to be evacuated.
Metro EMS personnel based in Tygerberg, Cape Town, were sent to the town to assist.
A helicopter had to be stood down, however, because it was raining too heavily.
"There's so much water on the roads that no one can get outside," Markus said.
"Most roads are blocked. The rain... (is) falling heavily."
Roxanne Lubber said water was seeping into her Moorreesburg home when she woke up at 8am.
"We had to make holes in the walls for the water to escape and put sandbags in front of the house."
Ansu Lotter, who lived near the Berg River, said she had not seen such a storm in a number of years.
"It's been raining and raining. I haven't seen anything like this in about five years.
"At the moment I'm just stuck inside my house because it's too cold and wet to go outside. Luckily, my house hasn't been flooded, but my friends are much worse off."
About five kilometres north of the town, a 24-carriage freight train on its way to Piketberg left the tracks at 2.30pm as it crossed a flooded section of a farm owned by Jannie Smit.
A man, one of five people on board the train, broke his pelvis and ribs.
When the Cape Times reached the crash site, the seriously injured man was lying beside the railway line, shaking with shock.
As emergency personnel prepared to place them on stretchers, the four others who had been on the train looked dazed. Their faces were caked with mud.
The Metro EMS rescue helicopter airlifted them, one by one, to waiting vehicles.
The seriously injured man was flown directly to Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town.
Municipal manager Wessel Rabbets said it appeared the train had become derailed because of debris washed onto the tracks by the flooding.
Investigators at the scene, however, speculated that saturated soil beneath the tracks had collapsed under the weight of the asphalt-laden carriages, mangling the tracks and hurling the train on to its side.
Francois Geffroy, a meteorologist of SA Weather Service, said the rain in town would persist until Tuesday but it would not be as heavy as Thursday's.
"It will be cloudy and rain on and off until Tuesday. A cold front hits on Monday bringing more rain, which is expected to subside on Tuesday morning," he said.
Meanwhile, a truck transporting fish overturned and lost its load on Settlers Way on Thursday. Maxwell said the truck caused a gridlock of all outward bound routes shortly after 12pm.
Maxwell said Metro Police officers had encouraged motorists to use alternative routes to leave the city.
Late on Thursday, he said three outgoing lanes were open for traffic, while two were closed as some fish was still being cleared off the road.
Maxwell said the cause of the accident was unknown. "I can't say the weather is to blame as the driver should have been aware of the conditions."
He said another truck picked up the load and the city's cleansing department cleared up shortly after 6pm.
Maxwell expected traffic to have returned to normal by Thursday night.
Councillor Simon Grindrod, mayor member for economic development, said late on Thursday night that he would launch an in-depth investigation in to why a single overturned vehicle could cause city-wide gridlock for four hours. He planned to seek answers from head of traffic Heathliff Thomas on Friday.
Also on Thursday, a passenger and pedestrian were killed when a taxi and City Golf collided. Fourteen people were injured.
The taxi and car collided at the corner of Vanguard Drive and Bolfor Circle, Metro Police spokesperson Kevin Maxwell said.
A passenger in the car and a pedestrian who had been walking nearby were killed.
Ten taxi commuters were seriously injured and four others sustained minor injuries.
Maaxwell said the taxi driver had run away after the accident and police officers were searching for him. It was unknown what had caused the accident.
Police spokesperson Randall Stoffels said the police were investigating a case of culpable homicide.
In other incidents, a truck overturned and a Kirstenhof house was damaged by fire.
A Cape Town Fire Command and Control officer said the truck driver sustained minor injuries.
The house in Harmony Road was gutted in the blaze. A firefighter said two water pumps and a tanker had extinguished the flames and no one was injured. The cause of the fire was being investigated.
Article from http://www.iol.co.za/
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Labels: South Africa - Weather
