South Africa: Extreme weather (giant waves) pounds Western Cape coast

That would have been an apt description of the waves that battered the Eastern Cape coast on Saturday.

Although the cold, wintry conditions forecast for the region didn't materialise, rough seas with waves measuring between eight and nine metres lashed the coastline.

In Port Elizabeth, a goods train with more than 100 carriages came to a standstill after the waves dumped stones onto one section of track and completely washed away another.

At the Storms River Mouth resort, more than 12 chalets had to be evacuated. One chalet was completely submersed by the massive waves.

Cars in the parking lot were damaged, and the resort's power was down for a long time. A lot of damage was also done to the resort's swimming pool and picnic area.

Chalets
The waves, which usually break on the rocks several metres from the chalets, broke spectacularly over their roofs instead, witnesses said.

Efforts to salvage a stranded cargo ship, the Kiperousa, off the East London coast, had to be abandoned because of stormy seas.

A warning issued on Sunday morning reported that there were swells of more than five metres between Algoa Bay and Port St John's.

Residents of Herold's Bay got a fright when waves of up to 10m washed onto their doorsteps.

The NSRI, police, fire brigade and other municipal emergency services were called in between 09:30 and 11:30 on Saturday when worried residents realised their homes on the beach might be flooded.

About seven homes were in danger of being flooded. Johan Steyn and his wife Ina's bore the brunt of the deluge. On Sunday morning, they were still sweeping sand off their front steps.

"We quickly moved our vehicles to higher ground. The municipality stacked sandbags to prevent the water from flowing through the windows and doors," said Ina Steyn.

Ernie Els
No damage was done to champion golfer Ernie Els's home, which is built on the rocks next to the sea.

Hennie Niehaus, commander of the NSRI at Wilderness, said: "We sent our team to Herold's Bay to ensure that no lives were endangered should the homes on the beach be flooded.

The NSRI remained at the scene until after high tide at 21:00 to make sure residents were safe.

"The conditions calmed down towards evening and although no lives were endangered, some of the buildings were damaged," he said.

Source: www.news24.com