Spring on hold as floods, snow and cold grip SA
Cape hardest hit, temperatures plummet inland
FREEZING cold, rain, snow, burst rivers and floods have put a dampener on the first day of spring — and more wintry weather is on the way.
Johannesburg woke up to a frosty -2ºC today and was due to thaw out to a high of 14ºC.
Pietermaritzburg was expected to dip to -5ºC last night, according to South African Weather Service forecaster Christina Thaele.
The big freeze follows widespread flooding in the Western Cape this week, including Cape Town, where there were at least three weather-related deaths.
Heavy snowfalls were recorded across the province, and even Table Mountain received a blanket of snow on Friday morning for the first time in years.
Thaele said: “We’ve seen quite a lot of snow over moun- tains in the Western Cape. We also have snow on the Eastern Cape mountains and into Lesotho. This is what is causing the extremely low temperatures. We’ve even had snow in Springbok and the Cederberg mountains.”
Informal settlements in the Cape metropole were hit the hardest by the conditions this week. The areas included Philippi, Nyanga, Gugulethu, Khayelitsha, Lwandle and Somerset West.
Another cold front is due to roll across the Cape south coast
An estimated 10 000 people have been displaced or affected by flooding in informal settlements near Cape Town. Hundreds of people were temporarily relocated in the Cape Winelands and Breede River Valley area. The Algeria district in the Cederberg was accessible only by tractor.
Residents of waterlogged settlements set up informal collection points to distribute government food parcels.
As the weather begins to warm up again in Johannesburg tomorrow, another cold front is due to roll across the Cape south coast.
Pietermaritzburg, after a -5ºC start, will rise to 25ºC tomorrow, and Johannesburg will go from 1ºC to 18ºC.
Western Cape Disaster Risk Management Centre staff and the National Sea Rescue Institute are on standby for more flooding in the province.
Even though no more heavy rain is expected, high dam levels and waterlogged ground could lead to more flooding in the Cape metropole, Overberg and southwestern parts of the Cape Winelands and southern parts of the West Coast district today .
Western Cape dams are at an average of 102.35% capacity. The Breede River and Berg River dams are at their highest and second-highest August levels, respectively — levels last seen in August 1981.
The Sunday Times visited several affected areas. Residents complained of the worst weather in years. “Yo, yo, yo — water everywhere this year,” said a mother of Green Park informal settlement, near Cape Town International Airport.