Streets in Stellenbosch are littered with the remnants of solar panels as well as gutters resulting from hurricanes, like those of which the residents have claimed they’ve never seen before during the entire the night on Saturday.
Right: a huge strawberry fell off the road that runs between Stellenbosch as well as Somerset West
“I could not sleep,” recounts a Stellenbosch-based exporter of fruits. She describes the storm as one of the most terrifying experiences. “The storm sounded as if it was an aircraft flying low in the air, with a roaring sound that roared through the night, and even until the early morning.”
Another person recounts how his entire home was shaken by the foundation. Meanwhile, the brand newly constructed Horti Demo Centre in the University of Stellenbosch reports damage to its panels. It was a terrifying experience, Stellenbosch residents agree and the streets of Stellenbosch have been closed down after hundreds of years-old oak trees fell.
The port at Cape Town has been closed from Thursday. It is unable to run when the wind speed is greater than 80 km/h. There are more winds coming, which means the extent of delays isn’t known yet. Inside the port area, an inventory will need to be taken from the effects of the wind on stacking containers.
“It is anticipated that the operations are going to be switched off and on at present according to the winds,” says Chris Knoetze the managing director of Link Supply Chain Management.
It’s a time that is a transitional time within the Western Cape: grapes are finished, and stonefruit, pomegranates, and topfruit are on their way to. The fruit harvest in the citrus region is getting bigger and better.
Reports of the late the plums being blown away and damages to the citrus orchards in Paarl are being reported as people living in towns such as Stellenbosch as well as Somerset West count the cost of the wind which kept them up into the evening of Saturday.
Ceres the apple farmers count themselves fortunate
Even with fallen apples Grannies as well as Pink Ladies mostly, the majority of the storm’s force was not able to get to Ceres.
“We are currently conducting an assessment of damage, but in the present, it seems that our areas of production aren’t as severely affected than the Helderberg and Stellenbosch regions. We’ll have more details within the next couple of weeks,” says Roelf Pienaar who is the director-general for Tru-Cape Fruit Marketing.
A technical advisor for an apple company located in the Ceres region states: “We’re actually very lucky. The storm passed between and the hills Gouda, Wellington, Paarl Stellenbosch and Paarl Stellenbosch. There was some rain, approximately 10mm in town and 30mm in Witzenberg however, we came out generally unharmed. We’re grateful.”
He says he’s similar experiences in that Grabouw wasn’t in any way affected by the force of gale winds.