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Devastating floods hits Durban, South and North Coast and surrounds in KwaZulu-Natal; death toll over 300
This past week has left most families, businesses and infrastructure in chaos in in the Coastline areas of Kwazulu-Natal as the devastating downpours and subsequent flooding created pandemonium. Disaster management teams were evacuating people in areas hit by mudslides and where buildings had collapsed. Rescue operations, aided by the military, evacuated people trapped in the worst-affected areas. Many homes and structures were washed away and several roads caved in, which affected transportation and rescue operations. The rains flooded highways to such depths that only the tops of traffic lights poked out, resembling submarine periscopes. Torrents tore several bridges apart, submerged cars and collapsed houses. Landslides forced train services to be suspended across the province. A fuel tanker floated at sea after being swept off the road. Several stacked shipping containers fell like dominoes and lay strewn round a yard, while some spilled onto a main road in the city, one of southern Africa's largest gateways to the sea. Mudslides have trapped people under buildings, with more floods expected. At least 248 schools have been damaged. More than 6 000 homes were damaged. Major crude oil refinery SAPREF had to have stranded staff airlifted out of the flooded complex, while staff at global paper manufacturer Mondi in Merebank, were evacuated too. The SAPS deployed 300 extra officers to the region, as the South African Air Force sent aircraft to help with the rescue operations. "By the evening of 13 April 2022, we have been informed that the death toll from the floods disaster in KwaZulu-Natal province has risen to 306 people", Nonala Ndlovu, spokeswoman for the Provincial Disaster Management department said. Her office said the death toll is "one of the darkest moments in the history" of KZN. Numerous agencies responded including fire and rescue services, Disaster Risk Management, NSRI, eTthekwini and Kwadakuza lifeguards, Police Search and Rescue, the South African Police Services, Traffic Services, Metro Police and Metro Police Search and Rescue, KZN Government Health EMS, private ambulance services, local security companies, breakdown services, community response teams, municipal staff, the 112 emergency call centres and Transnet National Ports Authority, South African Air Force, South African Defence Force, Gift of the Givers, search and rescue teams and many others.
President Cyril Ramaphosa visited affected areas President Cyril Ramaphosa was visiting Durban on Wednesday where he was expected to declare a state of emergency. "We see such tragedies hitting other countries like Mozambique, Zimbabwe but now we are the affected ones," the president said during this visit to the province on Wednesday. President Ramaphosa has made his first stop in Claremont, west of Durban after being briefed on the devastating floods that have claimed at least 59 lives and displaced countless residents, while laying waste to roads and bridges. He said that he had to travel to the province to see for himself the gravity of the situation. President Ramaphosa has described the floods as a "catastrophe" and a "calamity". "Bridges have collapsed. Roads have collapsed. People have died," he said, adding that one family lost 10 members. "This is a catastrophe of enormous proportions," he said, addressing a local community after inspecting the damage from the floods. The search for missing persons is still going on, said President Ramaphosa, promising to "spare nothing" in dealing with the disaster and offering assistance to the affected. "This disaster is part of climate change. We no longer can postpone what we need to do... to deal with climate change. It is here, and our disaster management capability needs to be at a higher level," said the president. The United Methodist Church in the township of Clermont was reduced to a pile of rubble. Four children from a local family died when a wall collapsed on them. Other homes hung precariously to the hillside, miraculously still intact after much of the ground underneath them washed away in mudslides. "This is a tragic toll of the force of nature and this situation calls for an effective response by Government," President Ramaphosa said late Tuesday. Schools The KwaZulu-Natal department of education on Wednesday announced that it has temporarily closed all schools that have been affected by the devastating floods. Department spokesperson Sihle Mlotshwa said the terrain and level of water has made it extremely difficult for teachers and pupils to reach the schools. "At some areas it is extremely dangerous to access. Schools as pupils and teachers are forced to cross high levels of water," Mlotshwa said. All affected schools have provisionally been closed down until 19 April 2022. "In the meantime, we are in the process of developing contingency plans to mitigate the impact of the floods and provide short term measures while the water hopefully subsides," he said. Electricity Electrical substations were either destroyed or submerged. This affected water pump stations and thereby water reticulation. Power lines were severed and water pipes damaged, while sewerage systems were equally affected. According to eThekwini Municipality, power and water might only be restored in some areas within a week, at best.While the country is experiencing Stage 2 rolling blackouts, Eskom announced that eThekwini would not be required to meet the electrical load-reduction targets. The rains also flooded a dam beyond capacity, making it impossible to operate a hydroelectric generator at power utility Eskom, boss Andre de Ruyter said in an online briefing. Durban port closed, now reopened South Africa's biggest logistics and freight operator Transnet, which runs the Durban port, paused operations across its terminals as the floods damaged a road and blocked access to the terminals. Transnet gradually resumed operations at the Port of Durban early on Wednesday morning, following a suspension of service across the port’s terminals on Monday evening. The Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) said it was working with Transnet, the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government, eThekwini Municipality and Eskom to stabilise operations at the harbour. Priority interventions include repairing Bayhead road, which is the main access route to the container terminals at the port and Island View and investigating alternative access roads into the port while Bayhead road is under construction. The DPE said the cargo that would be prioritised for evacuation from the port on Wednesday included food, medical supplies and petroleum products. Shipping, which was suspended as a result of extensive debris caused by the adverse weather, is expected to resume once it has been established that it is safe to do so. Transnet National Ports Authority, using its helicopters, noted that it had rescued 80 people trapped in various flooded areas around eThekwini on Tuesday. It also reported that there had been no damage to the pipeline infrastructure and that Transnet Pipelines would continue to supply fuel that was already in the system into the inland market. Transnet Freight Rail said it was assessing the rail network in Durban and surrounding areas to determine the extent of damage before resuming train services into and out of the port. The North Coast, South Coast and main lines from Durban to Pietermaritzburg remain closed. The Transnet National Port Authority added that operations at the deep-water port of Richards Bay were limited. Chemical spill overflow The municipality announced that the pollution control dam built to help mitigate the chemical spill from the UPL chemical warehouse, had overflowed into the Umhlanga River due to the “unprecedented rains”. The warehouse, which stored dangerous chemicals, many of which had not been disclosed to authorities, was looted and set alight during the unrest and led to large volumes of dangerous chemicals entering the river and ocean ecosystem. City spokesperson Msawakhe Mayisela said that although most of the overflow had stopped, a “leak in the pipework that is still discharging into the environment has been observed”. “Tankering of the water from the pollution control dam has therefore resumed in earnest, and other measures to reduce the amount of rainwater entering the dam have been implemented by the specialists.” While UPL specialists had informed them that the level of pollutants in the dam “were significantly low”, water samples had been taken. Backlog of trucks According to Road Freight Association CEO Gavin Kelly, there is a 10km backlog of trucks from the Marianhill Plaza towards Hammarsdale. Some trucks were already being targeted by looters. “Access roads around the port have been damaged, container yards, truck depots and trucks themselves have been flooded and damaged and the area is really a disaster at the moment. Logistics operations will be impacted: there will be delivery disruptions for goods being imported. The association has advised members to delay any departures towards Durban, and to find depots and safe parking areas along the way,” said Kelly, adding that there were “no foreseeable shortages” in foodstuffs and fuel. Toyota plant closed Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM) has suspended vehicle production at its Prospecton plant, south of Durban, on the back of heavy rains and flooding in KwaZulu-Natal. A spokesperson for TSAM said the plant “incurred some flooding in areas”, with operations halted since Monday evening. “Efforts geared towards a safe start-up, after the water has been cleared, are in place.” The Motor Industry Staff Association (MISA) noted on Wednesday that was “devastated by the impact” the flooding in Durban and surrounding areas would have on the retail motor industry, which was still battling to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. MISA operations CEO Martlé Keyter said the organisation would donate R90 700 to the Gift of the Givers Foundation, which was busy providing blankets and warm meals to displaced communities. Vodacom connectivity affected Vodacom can confirm that widespread flooding caused by recent heavy rains has impacted network infrastructure in Kwazulu-Natal, including over 400 towers, largely due to disruptions to electricity supply. As a result, certain customers in a number of coastal areas, from Ballito in the north to Amanzimtoti in the south, are currently experiencing intermittent mobile services. Additionally, some fibre customers are being impacted because of water logged fibre ducts. Vodacom has scalable contingency plans in place to deal with scenarios of this nature and is working hard to restore connectivity in impacted areas as quickly and as safely as possible. While efforts to restore sites are being hampered by severe damage to roads and certain facilities not being accessible due to the risk of electrical shocks, Vodacom assures impacted customers that restoring connectivity is its utmost priority. Crocodiles missing, now recaptured Crocodile Creek Farm, about 40km north of Durban in Tongaat, said 12 crocodiles were swept away from breeding ponds. The crocodiles have reportedly been recaptured. Heaviest one-day downpour in over 60 years Parts of the province received more than 300 millimetres of rain on Monday, the heaviest one-day downpour in over 60 years, the South African Weather Service (SAWS) said. "Some areas in KwaZulu-Natal have received more than double the maximum rainfall recorded during previous record rainfalls," SAWS spokeswoman, Hannelee Doubell, said. There are reports that the rescue effort is being hampered by poor visibility as a helicopter continues to bring people back to safety. One such search operation for a 10-year-old girl who was part of a family of four swept away on a flooded bridge. Community volunteers waded into the muddy river, taking turns to hack away at the branches using machetes and removed debris and rubbish that had washed downstream. Parts of the crucial N3 highway, which connects Durban to the economic heartland of Gauteng province have been blocked. Disaster area declared KwaZulu-Natal authorities are counting the costs while homes, businesses, roads, bridges as well as electricity and water infrastructure have been damaged or destroyed. The province has been declared a disaster area. The KwaZulu-Natal Government's spokesperson Lennox Mabaso said that mop-up operations would continue. “More mop-up operations will continue and the N2 and N3 will be closed,” Mabaso said. Added to the anxiety, the weather service is forecasting more heavy rain over parts of the province from Friday onwards. Fire and Rescue International commends all those who responded, whether first responders, public and businesses, for their enormous effort during this devastation. Sources: News24, ENCA, EWN, Daily Maverick, Sky News, BBC, Associated Press, Reuters |
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