Heavy rains in Kwazulu-Natal province have already damaged power lines, shut down water utilities and shut down one of Africa’s busiest ports in Durban, the main east coastal city.
In Umlazi, one of the country’s largest municipalities south of Durban, flood victims were huddled under blankets in a community hall, while others formed long queues for food and water donations from charities.
“What makes me angry is that this situation always happens,” Mlungeli Mokelua, a 53-year-old man who arrived in the village a decade ago to look for a job he had never found, told Reuters TV.
“Our belongings continue to be destroyed by constant floods that must be dealt with by the authorities. No one ever comes back with a plan to solve it.”
What is happening in KwaZulu-Natal is a catastrophe of enormous proportions that we have never seen in our country. pic.twitter.com/5M34XOiFfa
– @ CyrilRamaphosa
Climate change activists are calling for investment to help communities around the world better prepare for worsening weather, as the southeast coast of Africa is expected to see more violent storms and floods in the coming decades linked to human emissions. trap heat.
While the east coast is experiencing heavier rainfall, other drier areas of the country have been hit in recent years by catastrophic floods, which are also attributed to climate change, which has destroyed crops and led to water leaks.
The latest rains, which have left at least 40,000 people homeless, without electricity or running water this week, are expected to continue until early next week.
“We have no water, no electricity, even our phones are dead. We are stuck,” said Gloria Linda, sheltered under a large umbrella on a muddy road in the town of Kwandengezi, about 30km inland from Durban. , before it meanders. on a dirt road at a funeral of a friend killed by floods.
People are standing near the ruins of a building that was destroyed during the floods, leaving several dead in Kwandengezi, near Durban, South Africa, on Saturday. (Rogan Ward / Reuters)
Elsewhere in Kwandengezi, a family was standing in the rain looking at the collapsed metal hut, one of many dilapidated houses.
The state-run SABC television network said Saturday that the death toll now stands at 398, with 27 people still missing. In flood-ravaged areas, many relatives searched only to retrieve the victims’ bodies for burial.
“We called the police, we called the ambulance, we called the fire department, none of them answered in time,” Muzi Mzobe, 59, a professional owner in Kwandengezi, told Reuters in front of a pile of rubble. house he rented to tenants who were killed in it.
