Gale hits hard
2007-06-28
MUNICIPAL workers were still licking their wounds yesterday after severe storms hit the Drakenstein area on Monday, leaving a trail of damage and debris in its wake.
Gale force winds of up to 90 km an hour shook the area, bringing down trees, roofs, electricity poles and even smashing the plate glass window of a shop in Lady Grey Street, Paarl.
Although Monday morning started off as a clear, mild winter’s day, the expected cold front set in rapidly in the early afternoon, causing havoc throughout the district.
Paarl was the most severely hit town in the area, with at least six large trees being uprooted and in most cases falling on top of electricity wires, which caused long power outages.
A young girl narrowly escaped serious injury when she ran towards the Paarl library to escape the rain. Just as she entered the garden, a large branch broke off a tree, scraping her shoulder.
“If I had not been running, the branch would surely have fallen on top of me,” recalls a startled Janike Marais (17).
The worst hit building was a house in Orange Street which was struck by a huge uprooted oak tree, causing thousands of rands of damage.
Cobus Hattingh said that his son, Jacques, had parked his car in front of the house when disaster struck. The tree miraculously missed the car, falling literally inches away from it.
Ceiling
The chief of the Paarl Metro rescue services, Coby Fortuin, also received a surprise visitor to his office during the storm, when a branch of a tree hit the roof and ended up protruding through the ceiling.
Many more trees lost branches throughout the area, and a spokesperson for the emergency services said that it was only a miracle that no vehicles had been damaged or people injured.
In Wellington at least two homes lost their roofs due to the gale.
The heavy rain however brought joy to farmers in the area and the Wemmershoek Dam has passed the 75% capacity level.
This intense cold front also brought the first heavy snowfalls of the season to the area, dusting various peaks of the Drakenstein mountains and causing day temperatures to drop to the low teens.
More rain is forecast for Saturday, with very low temperatures overnight.
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