GARDEN ROUTE | HESSEQUA | KAROO NEWS - According to the Garden Route District Municipality's Disaster Management Manager Gerhard Otto, a concerned warning from the Cape Town Weather Office has indicated a weather system is brewing that is not dissimilar to the one that preceded the 2017 Knysna/Bitou fires.

The Cape Town Weather Office has issued two severe weather alerts - one for veld fire conditions and one for damaging winds.

The former alert has been issued for the Central Karoo and Garden Route, with GRDM spokesperson Marilia Veldkornet warning that "whenever there are prolonged periods of little and no rain coupled with warm dry winds, veld or bush fires can easily be sparked and will spread rapidly in strong winds".

These veld fire warnings are coupled with warnings of strong interior winds (50 to 70km/h) which are expected over the Central Karoo and the Garden Route.

Otto further expressed his concern and warned that the weather system brewing is similar to the one seen before the 2017 fires that ravaged the region. 

"The Cape Town Weather office's Henning Grobler contacted me saying they were very concerned with the weather system they can see developing," Otto said. "From tomorrow we will experience very hot, dry and North-westerly windy conditions (35 degrees). The system looks similar to the one that we experience three years ago during the Knysna/ Bitou fires. Models now indicate wind speed gusting at similar speeds as those experienced in 2017.

It is predicted that wind speed will calm down during Tuesday night , but it will be even stronger on Wednesday as well as Thursday this week."

'We bring you the latest Garden Route, Hessequa, Karoo news'