FOUR crewmen drowned, one is still missing and one was rescued after a fishing trawler capsized off Mossel Bay yesterday as gale-force winds lashed the Southern and Eastern Cape coastline.

The 10m Mandy flipped over in extremely rough seas as it was trying to enter the harbour.

In Port Elizabeth, strong winds blew over trees, damaged roofs and caused power outages. The windy weather was accompanied by downpours and thunderstorms.

In Mossel Bay, gale-force winds pushed the stricken vessel away from the harbour mouth and a tug which rushed to assist it was unable to take on huge swells beyond the calmer waters of the port.

NSRI spokesman Craig Lambinon said a police boat in the area immediately responded to the call and rescued the one fisherman.

By late afternoon, four bodies had been recovered and one man was taken to hospital to be treated for hypothermia.

Police said the victims’ names could not be released yesterday because the bodies had not been formally identified by their families.

A police social worker would be made available to the families of the dead fishermen to help them through their time of grief.

The search for the remaining missing fisherman would resume at first light today.

Bay View Private Hospital manager Lida Swart said the rescued man was in a stable condition.

Lambinon said the NSRI received the call that the Mandy had capsized off The Point at 12.18pm.

The NSRI, assisted by Mossel Bay Fire and Rescue, police, ER24, Netcare 911 and the metro ambulance service rushed to the scene.

“Kobus Crause, who always helps us in this type of situation, made his private helicopter available for the search as well,” he said.

Fighting 8m swells and 108km/h winds, the rescuers recovered one body on De Bakke Beach and three bodies on Diaz Beach.

“One man remains missing and we will continue to search for him,” Lambinon said.

He said there were areas that the NSRI could not reach either due to massive swells or where the water was too shallow.

The Mandy, he said, was lying on her side in the shallow waters on Diaz Beach.

Earlier in the day, the NSRI warned boaters to avoid the ocean due to the rough sea conditions.

“Anyone at sea on any kind of vessel should wear their life-jackets at all times while at sea. Anglers fishing along the shores should exercise extreme caution,” he said.

In Port Elizabeth, a car travelling in Middle Street, North End, was damaged after part of a roof blown off a building landed on it.

Municipal spokesman Kupido Baron said minor damage was also caused at San Antonio flats in Beach Road after part of its roof was blow off.

“There was also a reported incident at Settlers Highway after an electrical cable was damaged by the wind,” Baron said. Outlying areas such as Greenbushes and Seaview were without electricity for about an hour after trees and electric poles were toppled.

In Mossel Bay, the roof of Tiger Wheel and Tyre blew off. Fire service rescuers had to evacuate the building, but confirmed that no one had been injured. In Clarkson near Tsitsikamma, resident Vincent Oliphant said houses had been damaged in the gale-force winds, with several windows smashed.

In other parts of the Western Cape, gusting winds, hail and thunder showers yesterday caused widespread mayhem, from power outages and traffic jams to the uprooting and snapping of trees which smashed into houses.

On a farm outside Somerset West, five-year-old Anathi Maqetseba was killed early yesterday when a tree crashed into her home while she was sleeping and crushed her.

The SA Weather Service yesterday warned that “very rough seas with wave heights in excess of 5m” were expected to continue between Cape Point and Plettenberg Bay today.

It also predicted gale-force easterly and south-easterly winds, moderating overnight, between Cape Point and Plettenberg Bay.