The Western Cape Disaster Management Centre said early on Thursday morning that around 10,000 residents had been evacuated from Knysna where a fire has been raging out of control since Wednesday.
However, the centre said there had not yet been a call for a mass evacuation of Knysna’s 77,000 residents.
“The fire in Knysna is the largest and most destructive fire in a built up area in the Western Cape in recent memory with thousands displaced,” James-Brent Styan, spokesman for Western Cape Local Government MEC Anton Bredell, said. “It comes on the back of the worst storm seen in the Western Cape in at least thirty years.”
By Wednesday afternoon, the WCDMC confirmed a total of eight storm-related fatalities. High winds, pounding rain and thunderous seas caused havoc across large parts of Cape Town on Wednesday, ripping roofs off buildings and leading to widespread flooding in low-lying areas. Several thousand people were affected by the storm and had to be accommodated at emergency shelters.
In Knysna, the WCDMC has appealed to members of the public to adhere to requests to evacuate certain areas, after reports of some residents refusing to leave their homes.
“Ultimately emergency services cannot be held responsible if members of the public to not heed legitimate evacuation requests,” Styan said.
“The officials on the ground are monitoring the situation and will inform locals timeously, if and when additional evacuations become necessary. The officials on and offsite will not hesitate to take every action required to keep citizens safe.”
The statement also said evacuees were being transported to various safety sites and that additional fire-fighting resources had been deployed to assist, “these include eight fire trucks from City of Cape Town, two from the Overberg district and 12 additional Working on fire teams”.
Strong winds and smoke have made the use of helicopters impossible up to this point.
Some key infrastructure has been destroyed, which the WCDMC said had made communication difficult, but alternative communication measures had been established.
“The WCDMC is busy coordinating relief efforts and humanitarian relief aid for all affected areas across the Western Cape following the storm, including and with a specific focus on Knysna”.
A drop-off point will be established at the Eden Fire Station in George.
– African News Agency (ANA)
