The City of Cape Town has declared the storm that ravaged the Western Cape from Sunday, 24 September, to Monday, 25 September, “a major incident”.
As the accumulative rainfall recorded over these three days climbed to 714mm, widespread flooding caused extensive damage across the Western Cape. According to the City, about 16 000 people were impacted, with around 7 100 informal structures affected in the metropole. So far, a total of 11 deaths have been recorded, eight caused by electrocution because of illegal connections to power lines.
Charlotte Powell, spokesperson for the City’s Disaster Risk Management, says the declaration ensures efficient co-ordination, resource optimisation, and effective partnership with other spheres of the government, the private sector, and the NGO sector.
“The declaration widens the authority of our staff who are dealing with response and relief co-ordination and helps the City to focus on assisting its residents, enabling a greater humanitarian response, and repairing its infrastructure to support socio-economic activity,” Powell says.
She adds that City departments are still busy with assessments and mopping-up operations across the Metro.
“We are unable to provide a figure for damages,” Powell says.
A week earlier, gale-force winds, high swells, and a spring tide caused chaos along the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal coastline as waves as high as 9.5 metres, according to reports from the South African Weather Service, battered seaside towns. Several videos taken in Gordon’s Bay on Saturday, 16 September, and shared on social media showed vehicles parked close to the shoreline being swept away.
Insurance cover in the event of ‘natural perils’
Momentum Insure confirms that damage caused by tidal waves and flooding is covered in most short-term insurance policies.
“In fact, all natural perils are covered as part of building insurance and hence no special cover is required,” says Momentum Insure’s chief actuary, Rudolf Britz.
He says following the severe weather incident on 16 September, Momentum Insure received fewer than 10 claims from Strand, George, Knysna, and other areas close to the beachfront. The storms and localised flooding that occurred over the long weekend saw nearly 180 claims reported to Momentum, with an estimated loss of R5 million.
“And this number is believed to increase still as people recover from the trauma and find time to get in contact with their insurer. It will take some time before we can accurately report on the claims we received and processes, as ensuring our clients are safe is our first priority,” Britz says.
Discovery Insure says it received fewer than 50 claims related to the high waves that hit the coastline.
“We have seen some claims submitted for damage to both homes and vehicles over the specified period, across the Western Cape and Eastern Cape. Damages were mainly due to water and silt seeping into homes on the coastal line and a few vehicles were impacted in the beachfront area,” says Robert Attwell, Discovery Insure’s chief executive.
As to whether the vehicles seen submerged by seawater in the videos could be repaired, Attwell says each claim is assessed by a qualified assessor, which is when the extent of the damages are identified.
“The type of indemnity required will depend on the outcome of the assessment. Complete submersion could result in a vehicle being written-off. We have not as yet received major claims for vehicle damages as a result of flooding on 16 September,” he says.
Regarding the downpour over the long weekend, Attwell says claims were logged over this past week, and they are in the process of being assessed and costed.
He says Discovery Insure has seen a few claims for homes affected by water and silt, which includes damage to household contents.
“We will have a clearer picture of the extent over the next week or two.”
OUTsurance says it received more than 600 claims in the wake of the two severe weather events.
“We have a 24-hour claims support call centre that clients can contact for emergency assistance. Our service providers have assisted many clients with emergency repairs to minimise both the damage and discomfort. We have further deployed our assessing staff from various parts of the country to the Western Cape to assist in resolving claims sooner,” says Natasha Kawulesar, OUTsurance’s chief client relations officer.
Kawulesar adds that most of the damage was to buildings.
“We believe that we have received the majority of the claims for these two events, but it is still too early to quantify the loss.”
Climate change threat to economy
These two incidents are but the latest in a long list of extreme weather events reported in South Africa this year. Floods caused widespread destruction across the country in February and April. Think Mpumalanga, the Eastern Cape, Gauteng, KZN, Limpopo, and the Northern Cape. And not to forget the damage caused to roads and property by extreme rainfall in June in towns spread throughout the Western Cape: Paarl, Wellington, Stellenbosch, Somerset West, Franschhoek, and Worcester.
According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2023, failure to mitigate climate change is fourth on a list of top 10 risks in the next two years. It is listed as the number-one threat over the next 10 years.
Britz says, globally, climate change is expected to affect the viability of short-term insurers, and the extent to which cover can be offered sustainably.
“It also asks the question whether cover can be offered sustainably in all geographies as is currently the practice.”
He adds that although the current events are influenced by climate change, it is important not to put them down solely to the long-term change in trends that can be ascribed to climate change.
“Volatile weather patterns happen from time to time. We are constantly reconsidering reinsurance, underwriting, and cover options to ensure that cover remains sustainable going forward,” Britz says.
Read: Insurers and their clients count the cost of extreme weather
Asked what steps Discovery is taking to mitigate the risk climate change holds for the insurance industry, Attwell says Discovery is founded on a shared value model and is constantly developing ways to help clients and society at large through its products and benefits.
“The most recent manifestation of this is the launch of Vitality Green in September, a business that was established to enable businesses to become more energy efficient through renewable energy. Discovery Group itself has an ambition to be carbon neutral by 2025 and is, therefore, dedicated to finding new ways to mitigate the risks of climate change,” Attwell says.
Luthando Tyhalibongo, the City’s spokesperson, says as part of its Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan, the City has taken steps to strengthen its Winter Readiness Programme over the past few years.
The programme consists of a number of interventions aimed at reducing vulnerability to flooding. These include the cleaning and jetting of sewers, canals, and stormwater drains to prevent blockages and overflowing, awareness raising for people living in vulnerable areas, increased repairs and maintenance to social housing, and supporting NGOs to increase the number of beds available at shelters during the winter season.
“As we indicate each year, a lot of work goes into our preparedness for winter and ensuring a co-ordinated response when extreme weather events do occur. That said, there is very little that can be done to avoid the impacts of an extreme event like the one Cape Town and many other parts of the country experienced recently. All that we can do is to ensure that whatever impacts are experienced are dealt with as speedily as possible, and to minimise any risk to life and property,” Tyhalibongo says.
