Durban: The death toll from floods off the east coast of South Africa has risen to 443, including a rescue worker.
“The death toll now stands at 443,” the head of KwaZulu-Natal province Sihle Zikalala told a media briefing, adding that 63 others are still untraceable.
A member of the rescue and recovery team “experienced difficulty in breathing and was airlifted to … the hospital. He unfortunately passed away”.
In the flood-ravaged east, rain began to subside, allowing search and relief operations to continue after one of the deadliest storms in living memory.
“Bad weather has slowed down our assessment and rescue operations on the ground, but we are once again in full swing,” Zikalla said.
Early last week, floodwaters entered the southeastern coastal city of Durban and surrounding areas, uprooting roads, destroying hospitals and taking away homes and people trapped inside.
– ‘Rain clearing’ – The city of 3.5 million was cloudy but Puseleto Mofokeng of the South African Meteorological Service said “the rain is really clearing”.
“The rain is going to be completely clear (away) as we move towards Wednesday,” he told AFP.
But recovery operations and humanitarian relief continued in the economic hub and tourism magnet city, whose beaches and warm Indian Ocean normally filled with water Easter vacationers
There has been a decrease in the number of emergency calls related to floods as compared to the beginning of last week.
“Emergency services are still on high alert as of Sunday morning,” Robert Mackenzie Provincial KwaZulu-Natal emergency services told AFP.
“It rained Saturday and throughout the night,” McKenzie said, “though now, it has stopped.”
Still, emergency services were busy attending to a scene in the Pinetown district, where a house collapsed overnight.
“Luckily now the flood waters have receded and (some) roads have been cleared. It is very easy to reach the community,” he said.
Christians gathered in churches in the city and beyond to pray for those affected by the flood, as they celebrated Easter Sunday,
“This is a great tragedy,” Archbishop of Cape Town Thabo Makgoba said in his Easter message a day after his visit to Durban.
Desmond Tutu’s successor, Makgoba, said: “The community is suffering severe emotional stress and pain.”
The government, churches and charities are providing relief aid for more than 40,000 people left homeless by the floodwaters.
The government has immediately announced a billion rand ($68 million) in an emergency relief fund.
– Hospitals and schools destroyed – Deputy Social Development Minister Hendrieta Bogopen-Zulu, said around 340 social workers had been deployed to assist the victims, along with several missing children and other relatives.
Most of the casualties were in Durban, a port city and a major economic centre.
There has been no water and electricity in some parts of the city since Monday as floods have devastated infrastructure.
Crores of hospitals and hundreds of schools have been destroyed.
The intensity of the floods took South Africa, the most economically advanced African country, by surprise.
While there has been some flooding in the southeastern region before, the devastation has never been so severe. South Africa has seen similar tragedies in the past in neighboring countries such as cyclone-prone Mozambique.
These floods have forced President Cirillo Ramaphosa To postpone a working trip to Saudi Arabia that was due to start on Tuesday.
Ramaphosa said “hundreds of lives were lost” and the economic impact and destruction of infrastructure, along with thousands of homes, calls for everyone on deck.
The country is still struggling to recover from the Covid pandemic and deadly riots last year that killed more than 350 people, most of them in the now-flooded southeastern region.
“The death toll now stands at 443,” the head of KwaZulu-Natal province Sihle Zikalala told a media briefing, adding that 63 others are still untraceable.
A member of the rescue and recovery team “experienced difficulty in breathing and was airlifted to … the hospital. He unfortunately passed away”.
In the flood-ravaged east, rain began to subside, allowing search and relief operations to continue after one of the deadliest storms in living memory.
“Bad weather has slowed down our assessment and rescue operations on the ground, but we are once again in full swing,” Zikalla said.
Early last week, floodwaters entered the southeastern coastal city of Durban and surrounding areas, uprooting roads, destroying hospitals and taking away homes and people trapped inside.
– ‘Rain clearing’ – The city of 3.5 million was cloudy but Puseleto Mofokeng of the South African Meteorological Service said “the rain is really clearing”.
“The rain is going to be completely clear (away) as we move towards Wednesday,” he told AFP.
But recovery operations and humanitarian relief continued in the economic hub and tourism magnet city, whose beaches and warm Indian Ocean normally filled with water Easter vacationers
There has been a decrease in the number of emergency calls related to floods as compared to the beginning of last week.
“Emergency services are still on high alert as of Sunday morning,” Robert Mackenzie Provincial KwaZulu-Natal emergency services told AFP.
“It rained Saturday and throughout the night,” McKenzie said, “though now, it has stopped.”
Still, emergency services were busy attending to a scene in the Pinetown district, where a house collapsed overnight.
“Luckily now the flood waters have receded and (some) roads have been cleared. It is very easy to reach the community,” he said.
Christians gathered in churches in the city and beyond to pray for those affected by the flood, as they celebrated Easter Sunday,
“This is a great tragedy,” Archbishop of Cape Town Thabo Makgoba said in his Easter message a day after his visit to Durban.
Desmond Tutu’s successor, Makgoba, said: “The community is suffering severe emotional stress and pain.”
The government, churches and charities are providing relief aid for more than 40,000 people left homeless by the floodwaters.
The government has immediately announced a billion rand ($68 million) in an emergency relief fund.
– Hospitals and schools destroyed – Deputy Social Development Minister Hendrieta Bogopen-Zulu, said around 340 social workers had been deployed to assist the victims, along with several missing children and other relatives.
Most of the casualties were in Durban, a port city and a major economic centre.
There has been no water and electricity in some parts of the city since Monday as floods have devastated infrastructure.
Crores of hospitals and hundreds of schools have been destroyed.
The intensity of the floods took South Africa, the most economically advanced African country, by surprise.
While there has been some flooding in the southeastern region before, the devastation has never been so severe. South Africa has seen similar tragedies in the past in neighboring countries such as cyclone-prone Mozambique.
These floods have forced President Cirillo Ramaphosa To postpone a working trip to Saudi Arabia that was due to start on Tuesday.
Ramaphosa said “hundreds of lives were lost” and the economic impact and destruction of infrastructure, along with thousands of homes, calls for everyone on deck.
The country is still struggling to recover from the Covid pandemic and deadly riots last year that killed more than 350 people, most of them in the now-flooded southeastern region.