GEORGE NEWS - More trees toppled along the forest trail of the George Parkrun due to strong winds last week.
Since the middle of June when some 200 trees fell over due to heavy rains and strong winds, no parkruns could be held.
A salvage team managed to clear the trail, but now they will have to start all over again, according to parkrun organiser Wayne Ryder.
"The trees are all over the place again. In June we spent two and a half days cutting up trees and branches and moving logs from of the paths and although we managed to clear everything, it has been so muddy that it is almost impossible to get in there, let alone run.
"It is uncertain when the muddy conditions will improve such that we can run again. The sun does not reach the floor of the forest so it does not get a chance to dry out. It is not safe as the trees seem to fall over easily because of the wet soil."
Trees snapped at Witfontein
At the Witfontein forest entrance, trees were blown over and snapped in the strong wind and an overhead electric cable was damaged.
According to Kobus Wilken, Acting Director of Electrotechnical Services, the wind damaged a huge part of the 11kV overhead bundle conductor. "Currently, Electrotechnical Services electricians are replacing the overhead conductor of 1,2km with an underground 11kV cable.
The incident happened during the heavy weather last Friday. The teams are working in difficult terrain, with vegetation and trees in the way, and the ground is still wet as well. If the weather permits and all runs smoothly, the work should be completed in a week," said Wilken.
Rainy Sunday
Following a very wet May and June, George had 26,3mm of rain (as measured at George Airport) since the beginning of July.
The majority of this (21,3mm) fell on Sunday 9 July. Warmer weather is being predicted for the coming week after temperatures dropped to a minimum of 6,3°C on Monday morning, according to the South African Weather Office.
The weekend started with a warm Friday (27°C maximum due to bergwind conditions), but the temperature kept on falling over the weekend and on Sunday the maximum recorded by SAWS was 10,9°C.
The weekend's minimum temperatures hovered between 7°C and 8°C.
The overhead electric cable was brought down by trees snapping and falling over at the Witfontein forest entrance. Photo: Alida de Beer
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