PLETTENBERG BAY NEWS - Plett’s power is back on. This follows a concerted effort by municipal electrical engineers who worked late into the night yesterday, 14 May, to restore a major electricity cable which left about 40% of Plettenberg Bay homes and businesses without power since Monday.
Large parts of Bitou were still in the dark following havoc caused to the municipality’s electricity supplies, including the Crags, Covie and Keurboomstrand, much of it on the Eskom grid.
The massive storms that hit the Bitou area since Sunday 10 May saw winds of up to 150km/h causing the most damage by uprooting trees and breaking electricity cables, with additional problems caused by 300mm of rain in a short period.
It was the biggest storm in 20 years and saw dams filling up and overflowing within a few days, causing major flood damage.
Ward 2 Councillor Dave Swart was on the scene of the Brakkloof Valley, west of Plettenberg Bay, yesterday to observe the major powerline fault.
Replacing 1,5km line
To the east of Plettenberg Bay, along the Eskom grid, the Crags, Covie and Keurboomstrand were still without electricity, and the situation has been exacerbated by cable theft.
Eskom engineers were hard at work to replace the poles and restring 1,5km of line to the Crags.
This work has had to be done by hand as vehicles are unable to access the area. It was hoped to have power restored to these areas by this weekend, but it might take longer.
Bitou is also facing a potential water crisis with the Uplands pump station, which supplies the municipality with up to 80% of its water needs, still inoperable. The pump station was damaged by flooding along the Keurbooms River. The connection of the power line to the pump station has also been delayed because of other repair priorities facing Eskom.
Water supply
The supply of water from the Plettenberg Bay desalination plant has met the town’s basic requirements for now. Brown water flowing from taps in the Kurland area, for one, could be the result of the restored water flow following the repairs to broken pipes.
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