Today (Wednesday 21 June) marks almost two weeks to the date since torrential rains started to batter the Helderberg, causing the Lourens River to burst its banks, overflowing canals and street closures as locals continue to deal with related infrastructure damage.
Mop-up operations underway
Ward 8 Subcouncil chairperson Chantal Cerfontein confirmed that the City of Cape Town’s (COCT) departments are continuing with mop-up operations, which includes unblocking drains and removing debris.
She said: “We have been clearing out drainage systems, raising the floor level of structures so that it is higher than the natural ground level. The City has also made (and distributed) sandbags. They have also been digging trenches around properties to divert water away from arterial routes and homes.”
Ward 83 councillor Carl Punt confirmed the City has had its hands full since the start of the recent rains and has dispatched two excavators on Monday (19 June) to the greatly affected Victoria Street at the N2 intersection to bring some relief and remove some of the excess water.
One of these excavators also did a couple of runs up and down Mynhardt Street in Gants Plaza to clear away some of the excess water. “We are busy doing our utmost with resources available,” Cerfontein added.
What happened?
The heavy downpour on Tuesday 13 and Wednesday 14 June resulted in disaster as excess water spewing from the overflowing Lourens River flooded a section of Victoria Street, opposite the Somerset West Traffic Department as well as the neighbouring Eskom substation, causing power outages in areas of Somerset West, Strand and Gordon’s Bay (“Lourens River bursts its banks leading to catastrophic flooding”, Netwerk24, 14 June).
The floods not only uprooted residents and businesses in Strand and Somerset West, but Kramat and Sandvlei and other parts of Macassar were also subjected to floods as the Eerste River, Kuils River and the Moddergat River all converged down into the sea, and caused flooding along these areas.
Substation flooded
On Wednesday (14 June), Eskom’s Lourens River Substation was flooded and this caused power outages across Strand and Somerset West, especially areas close in proximity to the Lourens River as well as parts of Gordon’s Bay. The City’s Mayoral member for Energy, Councillor Beverley van Reenen, at that time, mentioned restoration times were still unknown, but the next day (Thursday 15 June) power in all of the affected areas was restored.
Residents affected by floods
Auriel Jeftha (40), a resident from Sandvlei, suffered a lot of damage during the floods after her gate’s motor stopped working and her refrigerator is now also broken after water flooded her house. To add insult to injury her brother’s vehicle was also damaged. “My family and my brother and sister who live next to us suffered various damages due to the floods,” says Jeftha. “The furniture inside my house is now stacked on cement blocks because the water level has not dropped yet.”
Chante Paris, who lives in Haumann Street in Somerset West, had to take off from work due to her house and backyard being flooded.
“We were almost knee-deep in water,” she related.
Paris also explained that on 14 June residents still had no indication of when the power would be restored, and she had to walk to the closest shop to buy gas and prepare being stuck without power as the roads outside her property were not accessible to vehicles.
Other organisations show their support
Photos and social-media posts did the rounds of various councillors, community helpers, neighbourhood watches, churches and organisations that played their part in helping people who lost everything in the floods. “The fire services were amazing,” says Ward 109 councillor Peter Helfrich. “I witnessed some of these rescues using rubber-ducks (boats) to rescue residents stuck in parts of Sandvlei and Kramat. We took an all-of-society approach. Everyone jumped in to assist.”
KC Gericke, chairman of AfriForum Strand Patrol, said over the first couple of days of the floods AfriForum and Helpende Hand partnered up and assisted the people of Kays Caravan Park. “Special thanks go out to Strand Neighbourhood Watch and Victoria Park Neighbourhood Watch, which assisted by redirecting the traffic. You are the pillars of the communities you serve.”
Cerfontein extended the subcouncil’s thanks and appreciation to both teams of the City’s electricity department and Eskom for their dedication and hard work.
The way forward
Cerfontein confirmed R104,4 million, which forms part of the City’s water and sanitation budget of R18,5 billion for the next three years was approved at a council meeting on Wednesday 31 May. She explained the money was planned to be invested in projects at the Lourens River and Macassar flood alleviation and the Sir Lowry’s Pass River upgrade which will improve waterways to reduce risk of flooding. The Wastewater Treatment Works are also receiving R246,50 million to replace 100 km of sewer pipes while Gordon’s Bay will benefit from R523 million dedicated to tackle sewer spills by upgrading the bulk sewers.
