Heavy Rains Cause Widespread Flooding in Cape Town, Wreaking Havoc on Roads and Infrastructure

• The streets of Cape Town are underwater after heavy rains have caused widespread flooding across the city
• The South African Weather Services warned that Orange Level 6 showers would cause disruptions on Wednesday and Thursday
• Various informal settlements across the city and other areas in the Western Cape have also experienced severe flooding

CAPE TOWN - Torrential rains are wreaking havoc in Cape Town, causing untold destruction to roads and infrastructure.

The heavy rains have resulted in rivers overflowing, road closures and many areas throughout the city experiencing extensive flooding on Wednesday, 14 June.

South African Weather Services warn of Orange Level 6 disruptive rains

This comes as the South African Weather Services (SAWS) sounded the alarm, issuing an Orange Level 6 warning for disruptive rain that is expected to go on till Thursday, 15 June, News24 reported.

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Videos and pictures of flooded Cape Town streets are being circulated on social media and show water gushing over roads and pushing through houses.

Below is a video of the flooding:

Heavy rains cause flooding in Cape Town's informal settlements and other areas of Western Cape

According to Disaster Risk Management Spokesperson Charlotte Powell, the Jakkalsvlei Canal, Lourens River and Kayser River banks ran over due to the rains.

This has caused flooding in several informal settlements in Philippi, Gugulethu, Mfuleni, Khayelitsha and Masiphumelele.

The heavy rains and strong gusts of wind also hit other areas of the Western Cape.

The Berg River burst its banks in Paarl, putting the Northern areas of the town underwater, IOL reported.

South Africans react to flooding in Cape Town

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Below are some comments:

@nicjordaan said:

"Reminder of why I don't miss Cape Town. We having a very nice sunny day here in JHB. Nice and Warm and outside in my garden."

@matome_07 questioned:

"Isn’t this a yearly thing in Cape Town?"

@greeff_danny claimed

"Unlike KZN, the COCT will have this all sorted & repaired in a few days!"

@arsene_mz added:

"Both earthquake and flooding in less than 7 days is crazy."

Malieka Suleman suggested:

"The city really needs to sort out their drains. If their drains work properly, they won't have all this water in the roads."

Government declared state of disaster in 7 provinces affected by floods

In another story, Briefly News reported that the South African government declared a state of disaster in seven provinces in response to flooding in some parts.

The affected provinces are Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal, North West, Eastern Cape and Northern Cape.

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According to SABC News, the Office of the Presidency made the announcement on Monday, 13 February and stated that declaring a national state of disaster would enable an intensive, coordinated response to the impact of the floods.

Source: Briefly News