First time overflow
2008-09-04
ALTHOUGH the Drakenstein area was caught in the grip of icy, wet weather over the weekend, with sleet even falling in central Paarl, no large scale damage was reported. Some farmers battled with farm roads washing away, but in general were pleased by the rain. The Wemmershoek Dam reached capacity on Saturday and one of the three sluice gates had to be opened to release excess water, while the Berg River Dam had already passed 100% of capacity before the rain. This dam has a spillway allowing water to be released into the Berg River. The Berg River Dam was completed less than a year ago and has filled up much more quickly than expected. The highest rainfall in the area was measured on the Boekenhoutskloof outside Franschhoek, where 250 mm of rain fell since Thursday last week. Pieter Siebritz, farm manager, said he measured 75 mm on Friday morning, 78 mm on Saturday and 60 mm on Sunday. “With Thursday’s 35 mm and Monday’s 10mm we passed the 250 mm level.” In Franschhoek 150 mm was measured over the weekend, in Wellington 100mm and in Paarl 90mm. The Night Shelter in Huguenot was inundated by homeless people looking for shelter, and some of them even slept on floors, because beds were no longer available. For the month of August a total of 150 mm of rain was measured in the Paarl area, less than the 257mm measured in July. While August has been a relatively dry month, it will be remembered for some of the worst storms in seven years.
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