City Disaster Response Teams Busy Following Heavy Rain and Wind

The two frontal systems which passed through the Cape Peninsula over the weekend resulted in widespread rain which caused localised flooding, power disruption and damage to dwellings.

Currently Disaster Response Teams are assessing reported affected areas to determine the number of dwellings that have been flooded. The following informal settlements have been affected and disaster relief is being provided: Phola Park, Klipfontein Mission Station, Never-Never (Philippi), Mpinga Square( Nyanga), Mandela Park( Hout Bay), Ndloveni and SST Section(Khayelitsha), Intersite (Langa), Mfuleni and Llwandle/ Nomzamo(Strand).

Disaster relief in terms of hot meals and blankets is being provided to flood victims at Phola Park, Klipfontein Mission Station and Never-Never (Phillipi) Informal Settlements. At this stage it has not been necessary to open any of the City`s community halls to accommodate flood victims.

The gale force winds that accompanied the rain have wreaked havoc with the electricity supply across the city where falling trees and branches have damaged overhead power lines. The increased demand for electricity as a result of the cold and wet conditions also contributed to technical problems. An appeal is made to residents to be patient during the outage - Electricity Services repair teams are hard at work restoring the network supply.

The gale force winds blew down tents at Youngsfield Military Base and Blue Waters where displaced persons are accommodated. At Blue Waters they were moved to two large marquee tents and a third is in the process of been erected. Two-hundred United Nations tents will be arriving in Cape Town tomorrow to provide for individual households. At the Youngsfield Military Base a large marquee has been erected whilst the smaller family tents are been repaired and re-erected.

The City`s Disaster Co-ordinating Team (DCT), together with Executive Mayor Helen Zille, met at 11:00 today (Sunday, 31 August 2008), to review the impact of the storms and co-ordinate the relief, recovery and mopping-up operations.

Residents are asked to please not travel to the coast to view the heavy swells being experienced as this is causing traffic congestion.

The worst hit areas are on the Cape Flats. This is due to the high water table and limited run-off capacity. Formal areas have experienced only limited localised flooding due to blocked drains. The pro-active cleaning and upgrading of the City`s extensive stormwater infrastructure ahead of the rainy season by the Transport, Roads & Stormwater Directorate has borne fruits.

The Disaster Risk Management Centre continues to closely monitor the weather system and is in close collaboration with the South African Weather Service at the Cape Town International Airport.

ISSUED BY: Communication Department, City of Cape Town, Tel: 021 400 3719

MEDIA QUERIES: Wilfred Solomons-Johannes, Cell: 084 711 7709

Greg Pillay, CELL: 084 711 7723