Storm leaves death, havoc

Rescue teams, emergency workers and the police worked around the clock yesterday to help KwaZulu-Natal residents as a fierce tropical storm battered the province.

Eight defence force helicopters were on standby and 348 traffic officials and 122 vehicles were used as evacuation teams moved people from a storm-threatened informal settlement on the outskirts of Richard's Bay to a community hall. Police divers rescued three men in Mtubatuba who had been presumed drowned.

Tropical storm Irina hit the KwaZulu-Natal coast on Saturday night and, though the storm was downgraded from a cyclone, heavy rain, flooding and high seas were predicted to continue throughout last night.

At least one person was killed as a direct result of the floods, several were injured and hundreds displaced in low-lying areas. Tourists at exclusive lodges were warned to stay in.

Another five people - four adults and an infant - were killed in two accidents in Richards Bay and near Vryheid that authorities blamed on wet roads.

In Jozini, in Umkhanyakude municipality, 56-year-old Phumaphi Makhaye's house collapsed on her on Saturday night. The collapse broke her leg and fractured her pelvis.

Her neighbour, Sihle Mathe, a relative, said he was called at 2am by the injured woman's neighbours and had to comfort her and her daughter, Bongiwe, until the ambulance came - six hours later.

"The rain was relentless and even though it's a distance to her place, we had to walk there after neighbours called to tell us what had happened."

Makhaye and her daughter, who were surrounded by neighbours, could speak but were crying throughout, said Mathe.

"When I got there she was under the rubble and waving slowly for help."

He said the rain became a light drizzle before noon yesterday. Residents prayed that it didn't get stronger.

A 24-year-old woman was killed when a wall fell on her in Umlazi and an 11-year-old girl was in a serious condition after a wall in Chatsworth collapsed.

Big waves battered the coast and the eThekwini municipality evacuated residents in Quarry Heights, Sydenham, after the Palmiet River overflowed.

In northern KwaZulu-Natal, Kosi Bay's Thobeka Backpackers owner Merrilyn Morris said the storm felt like a "cyclone".

"Here on the coastline we feel the brutal force if it. The winds were gusting [and strong] enough to take out my large mango trees by its roots."

She thought people living near rivers would be badly affected.

"There will be people who have lost their lives. I have a lodge here and it is a solid house but the water was coming through the walls."

Syanne Kirby, of Makaktana Lodge in St Lucia, in the iSimangaliso Wetlands Reserve, said the rain was ''debilitating''.

Tourists were stuck indoors and bridges were submerged.

Last night, the SA Weather Service issued a fresh warning of heavy rains and high seas from Kosi Bay to the coastal areas in the Eastern Cape.

The storm has been compared to Cyclone Domoina, which killed 214 people in 1984 when it struck Mozambique, Swaziland and KwaZulu-Natal.

St Lucia resident Rita van der Merwe, said: "It was bad, but not nearly as demonic as Domoina."

National Sea Rescue Institute spokesman Craig Lambinon said the institute had "no call-outs from Saturday till Sunday night" on the KwaZulu-Natal coast.

Three men presumed drowned in the Enkovukeni River, in Shikisela, Mtubatuba, were found alive by police divers.

"They were crossing the river in a makeshift boat," said Ministry for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs KwaZulu-Natal spokesman Vernon Mchunu.

Authorities warned people to avoid rivers.

The education department issued an alert to teachers and school governing bodies to ensure the safety of pupils.

Defence force troops and police were being made available to escort children to school.

In the Amauti area, north of Durban, the back yards of several homes were flooded, causing panic.

"The yard has been flooded since last night [Saturday] and we are worried that, as it continues raining, the situation might get worse and water will start getting inside the house," said a visibly shaken Nombuso Nene.

Not far from Nene's house, another home had a similar problem. Its four occupants were already making arrangements to go to neighbours, should the rain continue heavily.

"We have to be on our toes in case the worst comes up and we have arranged with our neighbours to assist," said Hlengiwe Khubisa.

On Saturday, in the uMfolozi municipality, six homesteads were flooded and, in the Ediphini area, 20 homesteads were submerged.

Emergency and technical services workers are assessing and clearing the damage. - Additional reporting by Andile Ndlovu