Firefighters and rescue workers continue to battle a series of bush fires along the Garden Route while hundreds of people remain displaced, with many evacuated from smaller towns.
Howling gale-force winds, gusting at speeds of up to 64km/h along the coast, have hampered fire-fighting efforts.
The death toll, which includes a helicopter pilot, is currently sitting at nine deaths since last week. By 10am, 22 fires had been report in the Garden Route area, some burning, others contained and still others being monitored.
Some of the fires were believed to have been caused by the lightening storm on Monday night.
Officials confirmed that least 20 building had been destroyed along with several kilometres of plantations and farm lands.
By Tuesday morning about 1,200 people had been were evacuated -- 1,000 from Karatara and more than 200 from the Rheenendal area about 10km away from Karatara.
By midday police had temporarily closed the Tsitsikamma Toll Plaza in Storms River and the N2 towards Kareedouw due to raging fires in the area.
By the afternoon, sections of Storms River were being evacuated by police and people taken to the community hall near the police station.
Strong winds also caused havoc in Port Elizabeth when a massive container crane in the Port Elizabeth harbour buckled and collapsed, falling onto a stationary rail cart and partly into the water.
Several reports across the Bay were received of street signs blowing down, unstable walls collapsing and trailers toppling.
Other fires along the Garden Route area were reported in Garcia Pass near Riversdale, Opsoek near Zoar and Calitzdorp, Jonkersberg Mountain north of Mossel Bay, Grootvadersbosch near Heidelberg and Louvain, situated north of Karatara.
Some 600 fire-fighting resources had been deployed to the area including about 500 fire-fighters, several fire engines, a defence force helicopter, two fixed wing aircraft, two Huey helicopters as well as a private helicopter.
Since Monday afternoon, several suburbs in the town of George mostly on the outskirts bordering the bush were also evacuated as a precautionary measure, while nearby smaller towns like Karatara, Bosdorp and Rheenendal underwent full-scale evacuations.
The fire is a flare-up from a blaze which started last week on the MTO-owned Lottering plantation in Storms River, bordering the Garden Route National Park (GRNP).
Police spokesman Sergeant Majola Nkohli said that evacuations in the Storms River were underway as the fire continued to spread. Both GRNP spokesperson Nandi Mgwadlamba and MTO manager MTO area manager Thinus Kok were unreachable for comment.
Garden Route District Municipality spokesperson Herman Pieters said the protection of infrastructure was a priority with all fire-fighters. “The primary objective of teams is to prevent the spread of wildfire beyond existing fire lines,” he said.
Pieters said that they would mainly focus on areas heavily affected by the strong south-westerly winds. “These include Eseljacht, Ganzekraal and Louvain. In addition, the eastern border of the fire (Knysna municipal area) is being driven by gale-force westerly winds.
This remains a concern for the current operational period,” he said. Pieters said structural losses included seven buildings on the Garden Route Horse Trails and Beervlei areas, 12 houses in the Farleigh and Bosdorp areas, the Geelhoutvlei Timbers Sawmill near Karatara and several plantations.
Weather forecasters predict 6mm of rainfall on Tuesday and Wednesday, but have little faith that it will dampen down the fires. “The rain has not had a major impact on the wildfires.
Winds are not in favour of making back burns due to unpredictability and the risk of spotting. But the wind has however moved smoke away from George,” he said.
“The department of social services has been rendering trauma counselling to the bereaved as well as those traumatised by the fires. The department of education has arranged for schoolchildren to stay on in the safe school grounds until conditions at home improve,” he said.
George municipality spokesperson Chantel Edwards-Klose said that three GO GEORGE buses have been deployed to Rheenendal to assist with the evacuation.
While evacuations were still underway, Edwards-Klose said emergency workers had opened the Outeniqua Pass and Robinson Pass, clearing debris from the road.
By late afternoon the Montagu Pass remained closed due to fires and thick smoke in the area. Edwards-Klose said that fire lines around the base of Othe uteniqua Mountains were being monitored and were smouldering, while there were active fire lines were behind Denneoord.
“Concern now lies with the northern side of Ganzekraal, next to Louvain. Teams will be monitoring the fire behind Hoekwil.” “There are 78 people remaining at the George Town Hall following evacuation (on Monday) of informal settlement area Golden Valley in Blanco.”
Edwards-Klose said that about 180 NMU students were also housed overnight at various centres and churches.
Power outages were reported in several suburbs across George, Hoekwil, Groeneweide, Wilderness Heights, Heatherlands, Saasveld and Hansmoeskraal around George due to the fires.
Garden Route National Park spokesperson Nandi Mgwadlamba said the fire had jumped from the Outeniqua Mountains to the park area over the weekend and on Monday. “A few staff houses were burnt, but no lives lost,” she said.
Mgwadlamba said that firebreaks had been burnt in an attempt to stop the fire, but the strong winds led to flare-ups, prompting the fire to jump the Karatara River and leading to the Rooikraal community being evacuated.
On Monday evening eight people – including a newborn baby and its mother, two children and a toddler – died in the fires in the Bosdorp and Karatara area while evacuations were under way.
Pictures emerged on social media of burnt-out cars and houses left in the wake of the fire. Police spokesman Captain Malcolm Pojie said the eight had died in a house at Lang Street, Farleigh, near Knysna.
“Preliminary investigation at the scene revealed that they died as a result of the fire,” he said. The names of the deceased are Elsabe Windvogel, 42, Ethan Windvogel, 2 , Eljade Windvogel, 12, Andrea Bewee, 21, Nalaya Oelf, 5, Niah Oelf, 3, Aliyah Oelf, 13 months, and Nalani Oelf, 11 months.
“The Knysna police had also opened an enquiry docket into the cause of fire,” he said.
Last week veteran pilot Nico Heyns, 65, was killed when his helicopter went down near Riversdale during fire-fighting operations. These fires comes in the wake of two others along the Garden Route last week, both of which have since been extinguished.
The Vermaaklikheid fire, which started on October 21 and lasted for five days, destroyed about 500km² of land, gutted nine houses and destroyed fencing and cellphone towers.
Two days after the start of that fire, another one broke out in the Tsitsikamma area, in the Lottering plantation in Storms River bordering the Garden Route National Park.
The Otter Trail – which had been closed – was reopened on Sunday. MTO area manager Thinus Kok said about 600km² of vegetation had been damaged.