Floods from the deadliest storm to hit the country in living memory flooded parts of the coastal city of Durban earlier this week – clearing roads, sweeping homes and those trapped inside them and sinking heavy containers. Emergency services in the southeastern province of KwaZulu-Natal, where Durban is located, were on high alert as meteorologists forecast more rain over the Easter weekend. “It is already raining in some parts of the KZN, but it will not be as turbulent as it was in the previous days,” said Puseletso Mofokeng, a senior meteorologist in South Africa. ». The provincial government said Friday that disaster management teams were “on high alert to respond quickly to communities known to be at high risk to prevent or minimize the effects of the disaster.” Troops, police and volunteer rescuers operate from a small civilian airport commonly used for air shows and pilot training. NGOs are working to distribute clean water and authorities have promised to develop tankers. Shawn Herbst of first responder Netcare 911 said: “Unfortunately there are still corpses being retrieved from homes, especially in rural areas. “There is still damage, especially with the rain we are experiencing today, which is worsening the damaged areas.” The death toll rose to 398 on Saturday, with 27 people still missing, the government said in a statement. The floods destroyed more than 13,500 homes and completely destroyed about 4,000. Thousands of displaced people are in shelters scattered throughout the city. In an ecclesiastical speech to celebrate Good Friday, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa urged people to pray for all those affected by the floods. He described the floods as “a catastrophe of enormous proportions that he has never seen in our country”. He added: “As we thought it was safe to go out [the Covid] catastrophe, we have another catastrophe, a natural catastrophe that falls on our country “. Days earlier, during a visit to areas hard hit by KwaZulu-Natal, the president said the disaster was a direct result of the climate crisis, but some communities have blamed poor sanitation and infrastructure for the scale of the damage. “I heard a storm”: aerial video shows the deadliest storm in South Africa ever recorded – video The government has announced τ 1 billion (52 52 million) in emergency aid funding. The South African Meteorological Agency has warned of storms and flooding in KwaZulu-Natal until Saturday night. More than 4,000 police officers have been deployed to assist in relief efforts and to maintain law and order amid reports of looting.