The devastating floods in South Africa, the worst in the country’s history, left more than 300 dead and dozens missing. They constitute a “disaster of enormous proportions,” President Cyril Ramaphosa said Wednesday in Durban (east).
According to the latest report from the disaster management office of Kwazulu-Natal province, the epicenter of the disaster, 306 people have lost their lives. Local authorities said they were dealing with an influx of bodies into morgues.
The record rainfall, which since last weekend has reached a level not recorded for more than 60 years in this region open to the Indian Ocean, has left behind devastated landscapes.
“Bridges have collapsed. Roads have collapsed. People have died. Our people are injured. This is a disaster of enormous proportions,” the head of state said.
In places around Durban, landslides have left giant gaps in the earth as if split by torrents of water. Dozens of people are missing, rescuers described “a nightmare”.
buried children
During his visit, Mr. Ramaphosa visited bereaved families. In Clermont, a poor suburb of Durban, he promised government aid to a father who lost his four children, buried in the collapse of a section of their house.
With joined hands, the man told the head of state regarding the water rising in the middle of the night, the electricity cut, his children asleep in another room and whom he failed to save.
“We see similar tragedies hitting Mozambique, Zimbabwe, but today we are the ones affected,” Ramaphosa said.
450 mm of water in 48 hours
The rains are expected to slowly dissipate in the evening, according to meteorologists. But already the region open to the Indian Ocean, which saw massive destruction during an unprecedented wave of riots and looting in July, seemed to be experiencing a respite.
In humid heat, some are clearing around collapsed buildings. Some schools opened their doors, but the benches remained mostly depopulated. At Inanda Township Primary School, only two out of 48 students showed up.
“In 48 hours, more than 450 mm of water fell in some areas,” Dipuo Tawana, forecaster at the national meteorological institute, told AFP. Specialists compared the level of precipitation to that “normally associated with cyclones”.
The mobilized army
The army was mobilized to provide air support during the evacuations. Thousands of homes were destroyed, at least 140 schools were affected, according to local authorities.
For several days, the main roads have been submerged in a brownish molasses, on which the signs and traffic lights float. Mountains of branches, bottles and rubbish washed up on Durban’s beaches, which are usually popular with tourists and families.
Activity at the port was suspended, containers were washed away. Looting has been reported. The heavy rains also led to power cuts and disrupted water supplies. Rail links have been suspended and residents urged to avoid travel.
Climate change
“We know that it is climate change that is getting worse, we have gone from extreme storms in 2017, to supposed record floods in 2019 but clearly exceeded today in 2022”, warned Mary Galvin, professor of Development Studies at the University of Johannesburg.
In 2019, floods in the region and the neighboring province of Eastern Cape had already claimed 70 lives and devastated several coastal villages in mudslides.
This article has been published automatically. Sources: ats / afp
