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GARDEN ROUTE NEWS -  Right on the back of last week’s disruptive rains and floods, gale force winds are causing widespread damage and havoc throughout George and the rest of the Garden Route. 

As gusts of up to 110km/h were measured at times, the roofs of several buildings were blown off, including a church in Pacaltsdorp and the Kingston Motor Group, as well as on the construction site next to the Mediclinic’s new premises. 

A part of George South Primary’s roof came off, Build It in Blanco has sustained extensive damage and a video on social media showed some roof sheeting peeling off from the Millwood building on the corner of York and Victoria streets, blowing into a traffic-congested York Street. Photos of vehicles and garden walls damaged by fallen trees are also doing the rounds on social media.

Some schools sent their learners home this morning, and Garden Route Mall was being evacuated at around midday. The manager, Rion Olivier, has sent out a warning that no one should come to the mall for the time being.

George Municipality’s response teams have their hands full in attending to the sites where fallen trees are blocking roads and have caused damage to infrastructure, which has led to widespread power outages.

Chantèl Edwards, the municipality’s head of communications, said they are currently responding to widespread weather-related incidents across the municipal area. “High numbers of fallen trees have resulted in multiple road closures, while several traffic intersections are without power and should be treated as fourway stops. 

"The Go George bus service has temporarily suspended its operations due to unsafe travelling conditions, including blocked roads and falling trees.”

A bakkie's load body almost flattened. Photo: Joe de Beer 

She said refuse collection services have also had to be suspended in affected areas due to safety concerns and inaccessible routes. 

“Residents are strongly advised to stay at home and avoid unnecessary travel where possible. Several schools have closed and some municipal buildings are temporarily closed to the public following damage caused by falling trees.”

Emergency and technical teams remain on site attending to incidents and restoring services as conditions allow.

This morning, the Garden Route District’s Multi-agency Command Centre said it was unable to deploy helicopter support to communities cut off due to the floods last week.

Gerhard Otto, head of the Garden Route Disaster Management Centre, said the wind is impacting the whole district. In Kannaland, almost the whole of the Varkieskraal informal settlement was flattened. At Riversdale on the N2, three trucks were blown over.

The strong wind will continue till this evening and will taper off into tomorrow when a wind speed of about 50-60km/h can be expected. 

"We have a level 6 rain warning again, but only for Knysna and Plettenberg Bay. The warning is mainly due to that area already being very wet.”

Otto said even though only 50mm is expected, and not 300mm like last week, it will extend the difficulties in addressing the flood impacts. 

Roof sheeting blew off at Kempston Motors onto a vehicle parked in front. Photo on social media

"There are a lot of power outages. The control rooms of all the municipalities are inundated by calls in this regard. They are switching back on where they are able to, but in certain cases, such as where trees have fallen over power lines, they will not switch these back on before the repairs have been done and it is safe.”

Otto said the wind warning issued for Wednesday will not be as severe as today.

Schools closed on Tuesday

In a statement this afternoon, the Western Cape Education Department said after some extensive consultation with the Provincial Disaster Management Centre and the South African Weather Service (Saws), and based on updated weather projections and the current conditions, it was decided to close all public schools in the Western Cape on Tuesday 12 May. 

WATCH A VIDEO: Roof sheeting blowing off from the Millwood building into a busy York Street this morning:

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