Three people have lost their lives, numerous others had to be evacuated from their homes and a countless number of families were left destitute by a devastating storm that ravaged the Overberg over the long weekend.
Teams from the Overberg District Municipality’s Fire and Rescue services, the NSRI, Police Water Wing and EMS Swift Water Rescue were kept busy not only with searching for the three people who had been swept away by the raging waters, but also rescuing families stranded in their flooded homes.
Rescue teams worked overtime to remove trees and other debris strewn across road surfaces, to distribute sand bags to vulnerable households, to pump water from homes that had been flooded and to restore services that had been interrupted as result of flooding and other storm damage.
A large part of the Overstrand was left without water after the De Bos Dam pipeline washed away over the weekend.
“Water supply remains a worrying issue and will remain so until the supply line from the De Bos Dam is fixed,” said OM Municipal Manager Dean O’Neill. “Water usage should be cut back drastically to ensure continued supply and that the reservoirs are not running dry in the Greater Hermanus.”
Overstrand Municipality confirmed on Monday that Pringle Bay, Chanteclair, Onrus, Baardskeerdersbos and parts of Kleinmond and Zwelihle were still without electricity. Electricity had been restored to Fisherhaven, Hawston and Vermont as well as the Hermanus and Gansbaai areas.
Kyle Cookson, spokesperson for Eskom in the Western Cape, reported that the energy utility has intensified efforts to restore electricity supply to customers and has significantly reduced the number of customers without electricity to 15 000.
“Just yesterday (Monday 25 September), more than 82 000 customers across the province were without power as due to the violent storm that caused destruction to the electricity network.
“Thanks to the courageous efforts of Eskom teams who worked through the night and who are still out in the field, only 15 000 customers are currently without power,” he stated.
Areas in the Overberg that are still left without electricity are Caledon, Greyton, Tesselaarsdal and Grabouw.
“With more favourable weather conditions ahead, Eskom technicians are aiming to restore electricity supply to all customers who were affected due to the inclement weather as soon as possible,” said Cookson. “Eskom urges the remaining affected customers to continue remain patient and apologises for any inconvenience.”
NSRI spokesperson Craig Lambinon reported that NSRI Hermanus and NSRI Kleinmond mobilised resources to join local and provincial traffic services, the police, Community Policing Forum, Disaster Risk Management, the Mayors’ offices, WC Government Health EMS, Law Enforcement, Fire and Rescue Services, community and neighbourhood groups and municipal authorities to evacuate residents in areas around the Klein River, Stanford and parts of Hermanus on Monday.
“In Stanford at least 46 residents – including adults, the elderly and children, a parrot and domestic animals – were safely evacuated from houses and buildings affected by the Klein River that burst her banks during heavy downpours since Sunday evening and into the daybreak of Monday.
“After departing the scene late on Monday NSRI Hermanus returned to Stanford to evacuate a further two households that were affected by flooding during the day.”
Dr Cleeve Robertson, NSRI CEO, said it is heart warming to see everyone pull together during this trying time and to avoid fatalities, injuries and casualties successfully. Our thoughts are with all those displaced and affected by the severe weather conditions.”
