George beaches to reopen after storm surge havoc

Beaches in Victoria Bay, Herold’s Bay, Wilderness and Leentjiesklip were closed after a combination of a spring tide and high winds caused a storm surge. Picture: Supplied

Beaches in Victoria Bay, Herold’s Bay, Wilderness and Leentjiesklip were closed after a combination of a spring tide and high winds caused a storm surge. Picture: Supplied

Published Sep 21, 2023

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Beaches in George will reopen on Friday after a storm surge wreaked havoc in the municipality last weekend.

Beaches in Victoria Bay, Herold’s Bay, Wilderness and Leentjiesklip were closed after a combination of a spring tide and high winds caused a storm surge.

Heavy construction vehicles were at the beaches on Thursday removing damaged infrastructure including benches and walkways.

The municipality announced that all the beaches would reopen.

“Good news for beachgoers in the George area – all beaches, including Gwaing Beach, Victoria Bay, Herold’s Bay, Wilderness, and Leentjiesklip, will be open to the public starting Friday, September 22.

“However, please note that swimming is not advisable due to the absence of lifeguards and debris in the water.”

The municipality said community services, electrotechnical services, and civil engineering services had been working together to assess the damage to municipal properties and infrastructure.

“The municipality is unable to provide an estimate of the rand value of the damages at this stage, but it is believed to be in the millions of rands,” it said.

Cape Times