"Willem Van der Voort" schreef in
bericht ...


CAPE TOWN - The Matroosberg is covered with snow, students are trapped on
an island, barges have run aground, vehicles float around on water with
wailing alarms, electricity poles are blown over and power cuts abound.
These are the results of heavy storms which have been wreaking havoc in
the Western Cape since Monday.

The worst of a series of cold fronts was predicted for Wednesday night and
yesterday morning. The weather was expected to finally start clearing up
by late yesterday or today.

According to Derek van Dam, meteorologist and head of e.tv's weather
service, several places can once again expect rainfall of over 50mm within
24 hours.

On Wednesday, snow fell on the high-lying parts of the province, said Van
Dam. The Matroosberg at Ceres was covered by a blanket of snow by
Wednesday afternoon, but the snow hasn't reached as far down as the road,
said Didi Greef, marketing manager of the Matroosberg nature reserve.

The wind was still expected to be at gale-force strength today, and waves
of up to 7.5m are expected. Swells of 9m raged along the coast on
Wednesday.

Stormy conditions at sea kept the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI)
busy across the province.

The NSRI delivered food parcels to the 25 students from the Afda film
school, who are shooting a documentary on Dassen island near Yzerfontein.
They were supposed to return on Tuesday, but have now been forced to wait
for the weather to subside.

According to Robben Island spokesperson Shalo Mbatha, island residents
haven't been able to return to the mainland since Monday. No tourists were
able to visit the island this week.

"The waves here are enormous and the wind has blown down trees and damaged
roofs. The back road has also been washed away," she said.

An unmanned barge, the Margaret, ran aground at about 08h10 at Jacobs Bay,
while another unmanned vessel, the GTO XVII, which was carrying metal
containers and machinery, ran aground near Brenton-on-Sea at 07h41.

"The barge is stuck on rocks about 40m into the sea, near Brenton-on-Sea.
We won't be risking human lives to save the barge or its cargo," said
Graeme Harding of the NSRI's Knysna office.

Meanwhile, the Groot River estuary at Nature's Valley flooded, and the
water dammed up about half a metre deep in the campsite, said Henry de
Freitas from the NSRI in Plettenberg Bay.

Holidaymakers were rescued from the flooded caravan park, but the NSRI
could do nothing but watch helplessly as five vehicles floated about on
the water with wailing alarms.

"We couldn't remove the vehicles, since they belong to hikers who left
their vehicles here."

Sanparks staff reached the 29 hikers by foot on Wednesday, to warn them
about sea and weather conditions along the Otter Trail, which runs for
45km between the Storms River estuary to Nature's Valley.

In the Cape metropolis, various suburbs had no electricity on Wednesday
due to the bad weather.

City of Cape Town spokesperson Charles Cooper said gale-force winds caused
serious damage when branches and trees were blown onto power lines.

By late Wednesday afternoon, Pinelands, Observatory, Tamboerskloof,
Maitland and Paarden Eiland's electricity supply had not been restored.

Van Dam said that after yesterday's storm, the next cold front should only
hit Cape Town by late next week.

Thanks Willem.
--
Greetings
Bouler (The Netherlands)