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28 February 2025
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Floods in KwaZulu-Natal claim the lives of 11 people
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The death toll from last week's floods in KwaZulu-Natal has risen to eleven, according to the provincial government. There are reports of one missing person. The heavy rains resulted floods wreaked havoc in areas in the south of Durban and on the South Coast, damaging property, roads, businesses and infrastructure.
Disaster management teams recovered the bodies of two women, aged 56 and 60,and three children, aged five, 11 and 16, who were washed away into a canal in Lamontville, south of Durban. A sixth person from Chatsworth also died.
The Provincial Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs said the rain resulted in widespread destruction, particularly in coastal regions.
Emergency services teams worked throughout the night searching for the missing people who were washed away in the floods. They were later discovered and confirmed dead.
eThekwini Municipality said the flooding also affected the outskirts of the Metro, where incidents of localised flooding, overflow of low water bridges, collapse of structures, mudslides and fallen trees were reported.
About 280 families in Lamontville were affected and will be relocated to temporary shelters while mop-up operations continue. “Several beaches have been affected by the severe flooding and are temporarily closed until further notice. The flooding, which resulted in damage to infrastructure, muddy water and a large amount of debris spilling into the sea has led to the temporary closure of some eThekwini beaches.”
The city said several areas reported power outages. The most impacted areas include Phoenix Industrial, Engonyameni, Southridge, uMlazi, Folweni, Isipingo, Bayview, Warner Beach, Ohlange and Umzinyathi. The city said teams have been dispatched to assess and address the outages.
The heavy rainfall in KwaZulu-Natal was caused by thunderstorms which are “very common” at this time of year, a weather expert said on Wednesday.
University of Pretoria associate professor in meteorology Liesl Dyson told TimesLIVE in addition to the thunderstorms, a surface high-pressure system fed moist air into the province. “Due to the unique topography of the escarpments in KwaZulu-Natal, the on-shore flow is forced to rise, resulting in even more rainfall,” she said.
Sources: SABC News, South Coast Herald, TimesLIVE
Disaster management teams recovered the bodies of two women, aged 56 and 60,and three children, aged five, 11 and 16, who were washed away into a canal in Lamontville, south of Durban. A sixth person from Chatsworth also died.
The Provincial Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs said the rain resulted in widespread destruction, particularly in coastal regions.
Emergency services teams worked throughout the night searching for the missing people who were washed away in the floods. They were later discovered and confirmed dead.
eThekwini Municipality said the flooding also affected the outskirts of the Metro, where incidents of localised flooding, overflow of low water bridges, collapse of structures, mudslides and fallen trees were reported.
About 280 families in Lamontville were affected and will be relocated to temporary shelters while mop-up operations continue. “Several beaches have been affected by the severe flooding and are temporarily closed until further notice. The flooding, which resulted in damage to infrastructure, muddy water and a large amount of debris spilling into the sea has led to the temporary closure of some eThekwini beaches.”
The city said several areas reported power outages. The most impacted areas include Phoenix Industrial, Engonyameni, Southridge, uMlazi, Folweni, Isipingo, Bayview, Warner Beach, Ohlange and Umzinyathi. The city said teams have been dispatched to assess and address the outages.
The heavy rainfall in KwaZulu-Natal was caused by thunderstorms which are “very common” at this time of year, a weather expert said on Wednesday.
University of Pretoria associate professor in meteorology Liesl Dyson told TimesLIVE in addition to the thunderstorms, a surface high-pressure system fed moist air into the province. “Due to the unique topography of the escarpments in KwaZulu-Natal, the on-shore flow is forced to rise, resulting in even more rainfall,” she said.
Sources: SABC News, South Coast Herald, TimesLIVE
