Weekend storm cuts power, destroys homes, displaces 4,000 Capetonians
The City of Cape Town's Disaster Risk Management Centre is conducting mop-up operations across the affected areas.
A flooded road in Mfuleni on 25 June 2025. Picture: Ntuthuzelo Nene/EWN
CapeTalk and 702's Africa Melane speaks to Sonica Lategan from the City of Cape Town's Disaster Risk Management Centre.
Listen below:
Weekend rainfall and heavy winds have left parts of Cape Town flooded, creating dangerous conditions for residents and animals.
Several communities were overwhelmed when floodwaters surged through informal settlements and residential areas across the metro.
Lategan explains that localised flooding in low-lying areas such as Mfuleni, Gugulethu, Sir Lowry's Pass, and Khayelitsha was reported.
The situation worsened when the Vygieskraal canal burst its banks, flooding several roads in the Athlone and Belgravia areas.
Among the worst affected was the Vygieskraal informal settlement in Athlone together with the Haji Ebrahim Crescent and RDP houses nearby. About 850 structures were damaged, affecting and displacing almost 4,000 people.
The storm also cut off power in many areas, which the City is busy working to restore.
Roads in Athlone were closed over the weekend but have since been opened while mop-up operations are in full effect.
"We are busy with mopping up operations... unblocking drains, providing sand and milling. Our energy department is also attending to power outages. We are also coordinating humanitarian relief efforts in many of these areas... We will continue to assess the areas to determine and prioritise where our services need to go."
- Sonica Lategan, Disaster Risk Management Centre - City of Cape Town
"Many displaced people have opted to stay with friends and family and some of them are also accommodated in church halls. There's not been a lot of people who had to be evacuated from the areas. But we are assisting them with blankets and mattresses and hot meals."
- Sonica Lategan, Disaster Risk Management Centre - City of Cape Town
Lategan explains some challenges the Disaster Risk Management Centre faces.
"Many of our informal settlements are located where the groundwater table is very high, in floodplains and on illegal land, and that impacts the service delivery and relief efforts that need to be provided to these people. The biggest challenge we have is the illegal dumping of waste in stormwater systems, which exacerbates flooding when it happens."
- Sonica Lategan, Disaster Risk Management Centre - City of Cape Town
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