Cape Town - The disruptive rain and strong winds, which set in on Wednesday and are forecast until today across the Peninsula and surrounding areas, contributed to several road accidents on Thursday.
The City’s Disaster Risk Management Centre and related City departments, and external role players, were kept busy dealing with road accidents, flooding and other weather-related impacts.
Cape Town Traffic Services closed Nelson Mandela Boulevard outbound at Melbourne Road after a taxi overturned after midday yesterday. The right lane on Nelson Mandela Boulevard inbound was also closed.
Cape Town Traffic spokesperson Kevin Jacobs said 23 people were injured in the accident. The roadway was reopened at 2pm after all those injured had received help.
ER24 spokesperson Russel Meiring said: “ER24 and other services arrived on the scene at 12.34pm to find the taxi on its side on top of the centre barriers. Three people were found inside the taxi, while several others were seated near the vehicle.”
On assessment, medics found that two patients had sustained serious injuries, while eight others had minor to moderate injuries, but there were no fatalities.
Medics treated the patients and provided the two seriously injured with pain relief medication before they were transported to nearby hospitals for further care.
Another accident occurred on Ou Kaapseweg involving two vehicles that saw the route closed in both directions between Steenberg and Silvermine Road, and motorists were advised to use Main Road.
The City’s traffic services said this accident resulted in one serious injury and one slight injury.
While the skies cleared last night, Cape Town Weather Office forecaster Surprise Mhlongo said more rain was expected from this afternoon, which was expected to clear by tomorrow afternoon, after which no adverse weather conditions were forecast.
“We encourage motorists to reduce their speeds, increase their following distance and proceed with caution while we are experiencing inclement weather. The wet weather conditions have created periods of poor visibility and challenging driving conditions,” Jacobs said.