By Kouthar Sambo
The insistent weather conditions across the Metropole have battered various structures throughout the province, resulting in the Western Cape Education Department announcing the closure of all public schools in Cape Town, Cape Winelands, Overberg, and some schools in the West Coast Districts Municipality for Thursday.
Speaking on VOC’s PM Drive show on Thursday, Breede Valley Municipality’s Communications Manager, Mr. Malgas, said the Municipality is neighbours to the Drakenstein Municipality and was issued a Level Four warning by the South African Weather Service (SAWS).
He explained that the Breede Valley catchment area is located in the vicinity to which the Level Eight warning applies.
“This means that massive ingressive waters are in the catchment areas, which triggers lower-lying flooding in the adjacent area,” explained Malgas.
“The Breede Valley town itself experienced consistent downpours and gale force winds, which have also made its way through other close areas.”
The cold fronts mean the Municipality will have to manage the scenario, he explained, to ensure the town and close surroundings can recover the usual level of service and provide the necessary disaster management efforts to residents located closely in riskier areas.
“So far, various damages include the town’s electrical supply, which is faulty, along with individuals complaining about uprooted trees, damage to cables and infrastructure causing the outages,” detailed Malgas.
Malgas continued to outline the plan of action and mitigation strategies moving forward.
“The idea is to restore the basic level services as swiftly as possible. However, this has been a challenge since the current weather conditions have limited the teams to operate effectively,” acknowledged Malgas.
According to Malgas, communities are being informed through various media statements and the overall status of operations.
“Our schools are also affected by the inclement weather, and a lot of the access routes to schools have been affected by the flooding. As a precautionary measure, schools have been announced closed in Breede Valley and other surroundings until Friday,” clarified Malgas.
Photo: Breede Valley Municipality/Facebook
