The eThekwini Municipality's Recreation and Parks Directorate, working together with the City's Emergency Services, has deployed teams to attend to multiple incidents across the city following strong winds, which caused outages across the city.
The strong winds on Saturday afternoon and early evening left several communities without electricity, and caused multiple incidents of fallen trees and storm damage across the city.
In a statement, the municipality reported that the city’s Electricity and Energy Directorate was attending to a number of power outages, most of which occurred on overhead medium-voltage circuits that are particularly vulnerable to strong winds.
Tree branches and other flying objects, including roof sheets, can damage overhead electricity infrastructure and cause power outages.
Affected areas include Baphehli, Folweni, Amaoti, Waterloo, Moriah, Klaarwater, Savannah Park, Inanda, Gunjini, Redcliffe, Malukazi, KwaNdengezi, Clermont, Umlazi C and Thornwood, among others.
“Technical teams worked through the night and supply has since been restored to a number of affected communities. Teams remain deployed and are working to clear the outstanding backlog and bring the remaining affected areas back online,” the municipality said.
The municipality said restoration of electricity supply can take time as switching staff and technical teams are required to inspect affected overhead line circuits to identify the cause of faults.
“Once the fault has been located, teams may need to carry out the necessary repairs before supply can be safely restored.”
The teams are also responding to multiple incidents of fallen trees and other storm-related damage.
Fallen trees were reported across the city, with teams cutting and removing trees and clearing debris from affected areas.
Locations include Masabalala Yengwa Avenue, Currie Road, Prospect Road, Balmoral Road, Kenneth Kaunda Road, Ridge Road in uMhlanga, Mazisi Kunene Road, John Zikhali Road, Patrick Duncan Road in Kloof, Margaret Maytom Avenue, Hilltop Road in uMkomaas, Marian Road in Amanzimtoti, O'Flaherty Road, Quarry Road, Penzance Road and Hatton Avenue in Sherwood.
No injuries were reported at the time of the update.
“The Durban Metro Police Service is managing traffic along affected routes and motorists are urged to follow the directions of officers on the scene. Fire Services are also attending to a damaged billboard near the N2 and Queen Nandi Drive, which might pose a risk to road users.
The municipality said the full extent of the damage is not yet known, with assessments ongoing and the number of reported incidents expected to change as further reports are received.
Motorists are urged to avoid affected routes where possible, reduce speed and remain alert to fallen trees, debris and damaged structures.
The public is also warned not to approach or attempt to move fallen electricity cables, particularly where trees have brought down power lines.
Residents are urged to exercise caution, avoid unnecessary travel where possible and secure loose objects around homes and properties.
Fallen trees, damaged structures and other wind-related incidents should be reported to the Disaster Management Centre.
The municipality said it will continue monitoring the situation and provide further updates as assessments are completed. – SAnews.gov.za
