Hundreds of South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province residents have been evacuated to safety following heavy rains that flooded roads and houses and damaged properties amid a high alert over renewed flooding.
Earlier, South Africa Weather Service issued a level 10 warning; the highest and most severe level; to the province of further disruptive rainfall on Saturday in a number of towns, including Durban, the worst hit by the previous floods.
“So far the greatest impact is expected along the coastal and north-eastern parts of KwaZulu-Natal,” Sipho Hlomuka, member of the executive council for Cooperative Government and Traditional Affairs told journalists.
According to him, about 250 people had been evacuated from care centres in Tongaat and Tehuise in Durban.
“This heavy rainfall has resulted in the flooding of roads, human settlements and damage to properties. We understand that some areas are inaccessible and have become islands at this stage,” he said, adding they had yet to receive a full report on the impact of the latest heavy rains.
The local administration is however on high alert to prevent any loss of life.
Most of those affected by the April flooding that was among the worst to have affected KwaZulu-Natal province in its recorded history have never recovered.
April’s floods killed 448, with 88 still missing, left more than 6,800 homeless and damaged more than 25 billion rand ($1.58 billion) of infrastructure.
