Status: 04/12/2022 2:27 p.m
Flooding has hit South Africa’s east coast after heavy rain. The province of KwaZulu-Natal with the port city of Durban is particularly affected. Several people are said to have died.
Flooded roads, collapsed houses and bridges, mudslides and torrential water masses: Unusually heavy rainfall has caused devastation in South Africa’s coastal province of KwaZulu-Natal. Although the extent of the damage is still largely unknown, local media are already assuming that at least 20 people have died and numerous people have been injured. Property damage in the millions is feared. The military was put on alert.
The region around the port city of Durban was particularly affected. “We were all surprised by the intensity of this storm,” said the mayor of the Ethikwini region around Durban, Mxolisi Kaunda. “There is a lot of damage, the floods are everywhere.” The city has opened community centers as emergency shelters for flood victims. The priority now is to save human life.
Mudslide reveals skeletons
According to the authorities, there were numerous landslides; many important connecting roads are under water. On social media, residents showed videos of torrents of water in houses and settlements as well as pictures of stuck trucks or cars that were swept away by the water masses.
A mudslide destroyed a cemetery north of Durban, according to local reports. “Dozens of skeletons” were uncovered and “bones washed onto the street”. “Seeing the bones as you walk by is sad but also terrifying,” a resident was quoted as saying by Times Live newspaper. The water masses are currently preventing the clean-up work.
“Here is pure chaos all around”
The situation was made more difficult by power outages and an outdated infrastructure that could no longer absorb the water masses. The population was asked to stay in their homes in view of the persistent rainfall, but to leave lower-lying regions.
“Here there is absolute chaos all around,” Chris Schädle, a German owner of a restaurant in Salt Rock, told the dpa news agency. The small South African coastal town is located on the Indian Ocean, not far from Durban.
200 millimeters of precipitation within 24 hours
Around 200 millimeters of precipitation fell over the region within 24 hours, said André de Ruyter from the electricity company Eskom. According to de Ruyter, the power outages can only be remedied when the continuous rain stops. “Since the flooding is still ongoing, we are doing an initial inventory of the damage.”
South Africa is currently in the grip of an extreme weather situation that brings with it a disproportionate amount of humidity in a very short time. More precipitation was announced for the second half of the week.