Residents of Cape Town struggled to keep their feet on the ground when gale force winds hit. The winds swept across the town with speeds between 25 and 42 miles per hour (40 t0 65 Kilometres per hour). Several individuals were forced to scamper to safety.
A video posted on twitter by a user @advocate_yousuf shows people struggling to get to safety from the gusty winds in the streets. Other twitter users across the world took to making fun of the news. @Helga_Links tweeted:
"Wind in Holland
vvs Wind in Cape Town
At wind speeds between 55km/hr to 129km/hr today .... At my weight, I would have been relocated to Robben Island.....for free
The Table Mountain Aerial Cableway, a popular tourist destination was forced to shutdown where winds reached a top speed of 62 Mph (100 kph).
Cape Town winds are a normal feature, caused by a tight gradient between high an low pressure systems along the coast between October and March. The wind strength peaks midway in January and will begin to dissipate thereafter. Earlier settlers believed that the south-easterly winds blew away any bad air and illnesses and thus reffeerd to them as the "Cape Doctor".
The winds this weekend have however been particularly strong. The disaster preparedness teams have not issued any advisory warnings that may result. When contacted, the city of Cape Town Disaster Management spokesperson Charlotte Powell said the South African Weather Service had not issued any warnings. She added that the winds might cause damage but the weather office has a system of giving such warnings.
The strong winds are expected to continue through to Monday.
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