Death toll stands at four as storm batters KZN
The death toll from the storm that lashed KwaZulu-Natal on Tuesday has risen to four.
A municipal employee died when a wall collapsed on her during the height of the storm in Durban around midday on Tuesday.
The woman had sought refuge from the wind and rain in an ablution facility at the Berea station when the wall collapsed‚ said Head of Parks‚ Recreation and Culture at the eThekwini Municipality Thembinkosi Ngcobo.
WATCH | Chaos as heavy storm strikes KwaZulu-Natal
Earlier‚ paramedics were called out when the driving wind caused a forty foot container which was stacked on other containers to blow over and land on a police vehicle in Maydon Wharf‚ Durban.
Rescue Care’s Garrith Jamieson said paramedics were called to the scene where a container‚ driven by the heavy wind crashed onto the vehicle. A second man‚ who was also entrapped in the vehicle was safely extricated.
In a third incident‚ Search and Rescue emergency workers tried to extricate a driver whose car was immersed in gushing water on Isipingo's Old Main Road. However‚ the driver died.
In Umlazi‚ rescue personnel searched unsuccessfully for a 19-month old baby‚ who has disappeared and is presumed drowned.
"We have not seen anything like this in the city before. There is chaos along the Durban beachfront. The beaches are closed. There is a lot of debris and the promenade is waterlogged. Trees have fallen all over the city. The city's drainage system is not coping‚" said Ngcobo.