Rain is still falling over Citrusdal where food has had to be flown in by helicopter to stranded inhabitants after the town's entrance road was washed away, and now the remaining electricity line has also fallen victim to the flood.

It is expected that the rain will ease off from Wednesday. In the port of Cape Town very high swells have meant that vessels couldn't enter the harbour; there are currently three vessels waiting to come into port.

Repairs to the town bridge over the Olifants River which was washed away are underway, including correcting the course of the swollen river.

"We are doing our best because we know there is fruit that has to go in and out and families that have to be reunited," noted a local contractor yesterday.

Mouton Citrus, north of Citrusdal, has given the town access to their bridge which gives access to the highway. Currently this is the town's sole access to the outside world.

It is hoped that electricity to the town - where packers were hoping to catch up on the citrus harvest by mid-week - will be repaired by Wednesday but the town has been warned that it might take until Friday to repair electricity infrastructure.

Some farms in the Cederberg mountain have been without electricity since last week Wednesday, but some farms do still have power.

In the town itself over 150mm of rain fell over the past ten days.

The citrus harvest has had to be suspended since the start of the rain, affecting the navel and soft citrus crops.

Source - https://www.freshplaza.com