CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Nearly 1,000 homes in informal settlements in Cape Town, South Africa, have been destroyed by gale-force winds, displacing about 4,000 people, authorities and an aid agency said as the city braces for a week of devastating storms.
South African weather authorities said on Monday that Cape Town and surrounding areas will be hit by multiple cold fronts through Friday, bringing torrential rain, strong winds and flooding.
Cape Town’s disaster coordination team has been on high alert since Thursday, when the first front arrived.
The areas hardest hit are expected to be poor, informal settlements on the outskirts of South Africa’s second-largest city. Thousands of people have been displaced in the township of Khayelitsha on the outskirts of Cape Town after strong winds destroyed homes and other structures. Local aid group Gift of the Givers said it had distributed 10,000 meals and 3,000 blankets to displaced people in Khayelitsha over the weekend.
Other areas have been flooded and the weather has caused power outages in more than 30 suburbs, the City of Cape Town said. The city said it was monitoring dam levels to ensure they did not overflow and would consider a controlled release of some water as more heavy rains were expected this week.
Cape Town is often hit by cold fronts coming in from the Atlantic Ocean during the mid-year winter months, which are particularly damaging to the impoverished informal settlements.
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