Gale-force winds cause havoc in Cape Town, with Access Park taking a pounding. Picture: screenshot/video
Capetonians remain defeated by the ongoing adverse weather conditions, and on Tuesday morning, strong winds already caused havoc.
Strong winds saw the collapse of a heavy structure at the entrance of Access Park in Kenilworth.
Videos of the structure collapse immediately started being shared across social media platforms.
This follows an Orange Level 6 warning for damaging winds and a Level 2 warning for disruptive rain by the South African Weather Service (Saws) on Monday.
This, as a cold front makes landfall across the Western Cape on Tuesday.
The weather service said rainfall accumulations in the western parts of the province are expected to be 10 to 20mm, reaching 35 to 50mm in the mountainous areas of the Cape Winelands, City of Cape Town.
Strong north-westerly winds of 60 to 80km/h, gusting from 80 to 100km/h along the coast and high waves of between 4m and 8m between Lambert’s Bay and Plettenberg Bay are expected from Tuesday to until Thursday.
Wind speed is expected to range between 90 and 120kph.
In a statement released, spokesperson for Disaster Risk Management, Charlotte Powell said the Disaster Risk Management Centre is monitoring for any potential impacts from the inclement weather.
“According to the SA Weather Service, the rainfall and wind gusts being experienced across the metropole will start easing off in the early hours of tomorrow (Wednesday). No incidents have been reported to the Disaster Operations Centre, but we are mindful of the fact that some low-lying areas remain waterlogged as a result of the record rainfall experienced in July.
“City services are on standby to attend to any impacts that may arise, and our humanitarian partners too are on alert, in the event that soft relief is required. We ask the public to please be on the lookout for any falling debris or other obstructions caused by the strong winds, and to take extra precautions on the roads,” Powell said.
Any weather-related emergency can be reported to the City’s Public Emergency Communication Centre at 021 480 7700.
robin.francke@iol.co.za
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