Torrential rain has destroyed roads, bridges and dams, causing major Western Cape routes to be closed. It seems highly likely that parts of the province will be declared disaster areas soon…
These photos, which were e-mailed to CARtoday.com on Wednesday, shows a decimated section of the N7 between Citrusdal, where whole orchards have been submerged, and Clanwilliam. The Boontjiesrivier Road and the Botrivier road at Citrusdal, which have been flooded since Sunday, are also inaccessible.
It appears the Olifants River Valley on the West Coast has taken the brunt of the flooding, and demoralised Vredendal residents have seen the last road providing access to the town (from Vanrhynsdorp) being closed after engineers found the road surface to be unstable.
Matzikama municipality manager, Dean O’Neil, said the bottom layers of the road were “soaked in water”. All roads leading to Vredendal from Lutzville, Klawer, Strandfontein, Ebenhaeser and Doringbaai, had also been closed off.
About 360 residents from Vredendal, whose homes were flooded, have found shelter in local community halls.
An Oryx helicopter from the air force base at Ysterplaat helped residents of Citrusdal, who had been stranded on farms in the area and was also used to help repair boreholes, which supply water to the town, after the electricity supply broke down between the dam and the boreholes.
The Weather Service on Tuesday predicted continuing heavy rain that could lead to localised flooding in West Coast districts, which include Vredendal, the Cape metropole, and the western parts of the Overberg.
