Roads, rail, power and homes disrupted as torrential rain and winds batter Cape Town and surrounds

Train services have been disrupted due to torrential rain in Cape Town, which started in the early hours of Wednesday 14 March. Roads in the metro were also closed due to widespread reports of flooding. The City of Cape Town’s Disaster Risk Management said rivers had burst their banks and an overflow had impacted a Somerset West Eskom sub-station. 

Heavy rains caused waterfalls above Newlands Forest in Cape Town. (Photo: Brenton Geach)

The South African Weather Service warned of disruptive rainfall over the Cape metro into Thursday, which could lead to further flooding of roads and settlements. 

The cold front experienced on Wednesday will be the “first in a succession of such systems, expected to pass through the Cape provinces in the week ahead, on an almost daily basis”. This includes the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Northern Cape.

The weather service said cold, windy conditions with occasional showers will be a persistent feature of the weather over the southern half of the country, which will continue “until well after the long weekend”.

Disaster Risk Management spokersperson Charlotte Powell told Daily Maverick that the impact of the rain on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning had caused the “Jakkalsvlei Canal to burst its banks, as well as the Lourens River and the Kayser River".

Heavy rains caused flooding in various areas of Nyanga in Cape Town. (Photo: Brenton Geach)

A flooded street in KTC near Gugulethu after Cape heavy rain.The SA Weather Service warned that the cold front that landed on Sunday evening is expected to persist throughout the week in the Western Cape. Photo: Supplied

Flooded street in KTC near Gugulethu after Cape heavy rains. (Photo: Supplied)

Flooding in the Cape. (Photo: Supplied)

Powel said there was flooding at the Johnson & Johnson factory in Tokai. The Lourens River overflow impacted the Somerset West Eskom sub-station, to which Powell said, “the City and Eskom are working together to restore the power in the Helderberg area,”.

Powell added, “various informal settlements in Philippi, Strand, Gugulethu, Mfuleni, Masiphumelele and Khayelitsha have been flooded”. The Disaster Risk Management Centre were still busy with assessments in the affected area. 

“Sassa and other NGOs have been requested to provide humanitarian relief to the affected informal settlements,” said Powell. “Various roadways are affected by temporary storm-water overflows, uprooted trees and mud on the road surface,”. 

Heavy rainfall has caused severe flooding in multiple parts of the Cape.
Read more: https://t.co/zOZqvmnNlB#capetownfloods pic.twitter.com/UPuE84fQWw

— Cape {town} Etc (@CapeTownEtc) June 14, 2023

Train services disrupted 

Metrorail Western Cape said they were operating a limited service on Wednesday due to “extreme weather conditions” after a tree fell on traction and signal power cables at Wittebome station on the Southern Line. The fallen tree affected the electrical overhead wires, which impacted the running of the train service. 

“The temporary suspension of the train service is on the following corridors: Southern Line; Cape Flats Line; Central Line and the Northern Line,” said Metrorail Western Cape.

Relief organisations step in 

Gift of the Givers has said they received calls from 4am on Wednesday morning, following distress calls from various settlements in the Western Cape who appealed for assistance. Ali Sablay, project manager of Gift of the Givers said thousands of residents were affected with “many homes completely flooded”. Gift of the Givers teams were deployed in hard-hit areas including Gugulethu, KTC, Nyanga, Khayelitsha, Langa, Bishop Lavis, Mitchells Plain, Grabouw, Chatsworth, Atlantis and Strand.  

Table Mountain. (Photo: Don Pinnock)

A flooded street in KTC near Gugulethu after Cape heavy rain.The SA Weather Service warned that the cold front that landed on Sunday evening is expected to persist throughout the week in the Western Cape. (Photo: Supplied)

“Gift of the Givers are distributing blankets, warm clothing and hot meals. Our teams will be visiting more areas in the coming days,” said Sablay in a statement on Wednesday. DM