Cape Town’s disaster response teams have helped more than 2 000 households affected by the weekend flooding.
|||Cape Town - The city of Cape Town has stepped up relief efforts to assist households affected by floods over the weekend, a spokesperson said on Sunday evening.
Disaster response teams have assisted 2 566 people in the flood-stricken areas with social relief such as hot meals, food parcels, clothing, blankets, and plastic sheeting, spokesperson Wilfred Solomons-Johannes said in a statement.
He said between Friday and Sunday evening the city attended to 348 calls where roads, property and informal areas needed attention, of which 321 were dealt with. The remaining 27 incidents would be dealt with on Monday.
“The city also attended to 839 instances of drains that were blocked and sewer systems that were overflowing since Friday. The strong winds also affected various trees across Cape Town and the city parks department had to deal with 38 incidents where trees were required to be removed, trimmed and/or pruned.”
He said the city's electricity services dealt with 1 545 calls.
Earlier on Sunday, about 60 people were evacuated from a golf and conference centre because of rising water levels.
Solomons-Johannes said they evacuated people from the River Club in Observatory because the Liesbeek River was rising following heavy rain at the weekend.
The river flooded the club's courtyard, with no significant damage to any buildings. Fifteen vehicles had to be moved to higher ground.
“Residents are urged to stay clear and to leave the surrounding areas immediately for their own safety.”
Public safety officials were regulating traffic in the area.
The disaster risk management centre and other relevant departments were on high alert on Sunday evening, he said.
They were working with the supporting disaster response agencies and public safety authorities as continuous light showers were forecasted for the forthcoming week across Cape Town.
“In the event of a life- or property-threatening emergency, the public are advised to dial 107 from a landline or 021-480-7700 from a cellphone.”
Solomons-Johannes said flooding, blocked drains, service disruptions and power failures could be reported to the city's 24-hour technical operations centre on 0860-10-30-89.
Motorists experiencing delays and deviations on roads could contact the city's transport information centre on 0800-65-64-63 for more information. - Sapa