Author: Quinz Atdah Qeqe (South Africa)
Western Cape Residential Area Damaged By Gale-Force Winds.
Photo By: Dwayne Senior (Bloomberg)
SUMMARY
On Friday the 12th July 2024, the National Disaster Management Centre(NDMC) under the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs(COGTA) declared the Western Cape province(South Africa) a disaster area. This amidst devastating storms and harsh weather conditions hit largely the entire Western Cape province since the beginning of the month of July (The Citizen. 2024). Though the final assessment of the people and infrastructure affected by the storm is yet to be published, the Disaster Risk Management Team in the Western Cape have logged nearly 160 000 affected people and close to 50 000 damaged structures to date (Francke. 2024). Non-Governmental Organizations(NGO) such as: Gift Of The Givers have assisted in mitigating the impacts of the storms, by distributing hot meals and blankets to displaced and affected people (Wallop. 2024). Western Cape Premier Alan Winde has lamented that the assessment on the total cost to rebuild and repair damaged infrastructure in the province is yet to be finalized (Western Cape Government News. 2024).
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