Rain is expected in certain parts of the country.
PHOTO: Duncan Alfreds, News24
- Thunderstorms are in the forecast for parts of the Western Cape and Gauteng over the long weekend.
- The storms are likely to affect the central and southern parts of the Western Cape.
- The SA Weather Service says Gauteng residents can expect heavy rain and thunder on Thursday.
A Level 6 Orange Warning has been issued for parts of the Western Cape this weekend as the South African Weather Service forecasts widespread showers and thunderstorms for much of the province.
Most of the storms are expected in the central and southern parts of the province.
Residents can expect heavy downpours of 20-30mm per hour, along with strong and gusty winds, lightning and small hail between Friday and Saturday.
Heavy downpours can cause flooding and damage to homes and infrastructure, according to the weather service.
The warning comes after the province was hit with heavy rain earlier in the week.
The rain caused flooding in parts of Cape Town and roads to Dunoon, Somerset West, Gordon’s Bay, Strand and Muizenberg were affected.
READ | Homes flooded, roads collapsed as heavy rain wreaks havoc across the country
Around 50 houses were flooded in informal settlements in Masiphumelele, while 50 houses were flooded in the agricultural town of De Doorns, with widespread damage caused to farms and residential areas.
Disaster management teams in the Western Cape have been on high alert.
MEC for Local Government and Environmental Affairs Anton Bredell said clean-up operations were progressing well in all affected municipalities following severe weather earlier this week.
According to Bredell, attention has shifted to the next episode of severe weather expected to hit the province starting Friday.
Prime Minister Alan Winde urged caution over the long weekend, saying roads in the Western Cape are likely to see increased traffic volumes as people leave and arrive in the province.
He said the provincial government would put additional resources in reserve to respond where needed.
Winde said:
We call on all of our road users to exercise even greater caution when travelling.
“We are also concerned that elevated levels of load shedding and, with possible severe weather, the situation could worsen further.”
Provincial disaster management put air and ground support resources on standby in case they were needed, Bredell added.
Meanwhile, heavy downpours and localized flooding have devastated the city of Johannesburg over the past six days.
In Gauteng, 339 people were affected by flooding on Friday and Saturday, while 269 structures, including houses and shacks, were washed away.
It seems that the residents are still not clean.
Heavier rainy conditions are expected this week and possibly all of December, the weather service warned Thursday.
A meteorologist, Lehlohonolo Thabela, said residents should expect heavy rain, downpours and downpours on Thursday.
He said heavy rains would result in damaged informal settlements and infrastructure, and more localized flooding on roads and low-lying bridges.
According to Thobela, the conditions are as expected because it is summer.
However, the downpours could be made worse by the current La Niña period.
This period will see the country experience a summer with above-normal rainfall, Thobela said.
Over the past weekend, stormy weather wreaked havoc in various parts of the country, flooding homes and causing walls and roads to collapse.
New24 previously reported that Albertina Sisulu Road between Westlake Road and Fourth Road in Florida was closed to traffic.
While no incidents have been reported since Monday, Johannesburg Emergency Medical Services (EMS) have been on high alert, monitoring flood-prone areas due to continued rain.
Speaking to News24 on Wednesday, EMS spokeswoman Nana Radebe said: “It’s been very quiet. No incidents reported since the weekend.”
“We have monitored areas, including Alexandra, Diepsloot, Ivory Park, Klipspruit, Eldorado Park, etc., because the Jukskei River runs through these areas and nothing has been reported.”
She said the EMS team would be on standby for any incident reports.
