City teams working non-stop to address weather-related impact

15 June 2023

Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis is on the ground assessing efforts by City teams to mitigate localised flooding and severe weather impacts in different parts of the City. This follows a series of cold fronts making landfall at the start of the week, with more rain expected. City efforts are being coordinated directly from the Disaster Risk Management Centre in Goodwood, where Mayor Hill-Lewis received a briefing before visiting the Keyser River near Tokai where teams are working to mitigate flooding, and Heideveld, where mop-up operations to clear suburban flooding are under way. Read more below:

‘We’ve seen several rivers burst their banks in Cape Town, including the Eerste River/Kuils River, affecting parts of Zandvlei and Macassar, and the Mosselbank River, impacting Klipheuwel and Philadelphia, as well as mudslides in the Oudeskip area near Hangberg in Hout Bay.

‘Today I witnessed a major City effort to excavate the Keyser River near Tokai where teams are removing silt and vegetation, and diverting water within the catchment to help reduce the flow into the river. This should further alleviate the localised flooding which has affected businesses and the Melomed Hospital in the area. I was also encouraged to see officials making progress on restoring flooded streets in Heideveld, as they have been doing in communities across the city.

‘My thanks goes to every dedicated City official out there working non-stop in difficult conditions to alleviate flooding, power outages, and clear debris and blocked sewer pipes. This includes multi-agency rescue efforts in a bid to prevent injury and loss of life, such as the rescue of three people at a flooding canal in Parow on Thursday. Residents should please stay safe, stay indoors where possible, and not attempt to cross flooding water in canals or rivers. Report emergencies please by dialling 021 480 7700 from a cell phone or 107 from a landline,’ said Mayor Hill-Lewis.

Rainfall data recorded since the beginning of June at dams that supply the city, shows rainfall to be well in excess of long-term averages for this time of year. 

By today, dams that supply Cape Town with drinking water saw a sharp increase and stood at 86,1%.

 

Due to heavy rains, one of the three sluice gates opened up to the highest level for the first time in more than 30 years, to release water from the Wemmershoek Dam into the Wemmershoek River. The system controlling the three sluice gates, is triggered by the rising water level in the dam as a result of the rainfall in the catchment. The City has a standard operating procedure for the sluice gates. This is linked to a disaster management plan which includes coordination with Stellenbosch Municipality, Drakenstein Municipality, the Winelands District Municipality and the South African Police Services, who all formed part of this planned release to reduce threat to residents and damage to property. The City is monitoring all its dams closely.

Regarding electricity outages, at least 25 localities across the metro have experienced storm-related outages since the start of the week, with the City steadily restoring power to most of these. Following a major outage in the Helderberg on Wednesday, officials have worked tirelessly to restore most of the area by mid-morning on Thursday. Residents are urged to report outages via the City’s service channels to alert the technicians to intervene.

The City’s Informal Settlements Management Department also continues to assess all areas affected by flooding. Teams are currently out in high-risk areas to provide assistance to relevant City departments where water needs to be removed.  NGOs are further assisting with humanitarian relief for residents of affected informal settlements, among them the Mother Soup Kitchen and Ashraful Aid International. The City is also providing milling and sandbags where feasible. 

The City’s Winter Preparedness efforts have been ongoing for several months, including:

• Proactive sewer jetting of over 200km of sewers to remove build-up of sand and foreign objects and mitigate overflowing
• Ongoing flooding mitigation through clearing of stormwater drains, ponds, canals and gullies in flood prone areas since earlier this year
• Preventative interventions to warn of flooding risks in areas with high numbers of informal structures, with Disaster Risk Management teams
• proactively visiting 38 high-risk areas to distribute information pamphlets, loud-hail, and in some parts erect signage indicating likely flood areas. 
• Support to expand beds at homeless shelters and City-run Safe Spaces to help more people off the streets
• Mitigating sustained high stages of load-shedding, with business continuity preparations including fuel storage, generators and UPS systems, communications and IS&T network readiness. By the end of June, 118 critical sewer pump stations will be fitted with generators, with a further R46m budgeted for more installations in 2023/24.
• Preventing electricity outages by tree-trimming on public property and encouraging property owners to do the same ahead of winter storms. Property owners should please approach professionals for assistance to ensure trees on their property are safely trimmed. 

 

The City’s services continue doing everything possible to deal with the impacts of the weather, but intermittent rainfall is a challenge.

Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office