The George Municipality in the Western Cape says mopping-up operations are underway following the major destruction caused by high waves along the Garden Route coastline on Saturday.
One person was also killed and several others injured by giant waves.
Municipality Spokesperson Ntobeko Mangqwengqwe says, “The municipality worked tirelessly to protect infrastructure while also saving lives. The Executive Mayor of George, Alderman Leon van Wyk, expressed condolences to the family of the elderly lady who passed away and expressed his thoughts to those who were injured after a huge wave hit them at Leentjiesklip in Wilderness. The George beaches remain closed.”
A restaurant at the Falsebay coastline was affected, as seen in the videos below:
A busy weekend for the NSRI
The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) says it had a busy weekend responding to multiple incidents due to the high tide that caused choppy waves, which flooded several coastal areas.
The tide is expected to ease this week, but the South African Weather Services warned that rough seas will remain until the weekend.
NSRI Spokesperson, Craig Lambinon, elaborates.
“It was a very busy weekend, NSRI volunteers and the emergency services responded to multiple incidents around the coastline and also on Hartbeespoort Dam, which saw one-metre wave heights with people on their boats, unexpecting that kind of conditions on an inland waterway. I think it’s now a case of mopping up operations, to see what the damage was. You know a number of restaurants, a number of buildings that are close to shore – even a lot of our NSRI rescue stations which are obviously right on the beach, on the shoreline – have been affected by this and everybody is pulling together to get everything right again.”
VIDEO | NSRI urges Gordon’s Bay residents to be cautious amid spring tides:
