KZN flood death toll climbs as search continues for missing people

The death toll continues to rise in the aftermath of floods which ravaged parts of KwaZulu-Natal as authorities continue to search for people who are still missing.

Cooperative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) MEC Nomusa Dube-Ncube, accompanied by eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede, confirmed that 67 people had died directly as a result of the floods earlier in the week but said there were still people  unaccounted for. 

Taking into account the 13 people who died when a church wall collapsed near Empangeni and the death of five people in a car crash over the Easter Weekend - the combined death toll for the past few days stood at 85.

"We can confirm that we still have sites with active search and rescue scenes. These include, one at Tshelimyama where a vehicle was washed away and one at Mega Philani Bridge where a person was washed away. We also are looking at reports about a missing person at Silverglen. It is believed that the person may have drowned in the Inanda dam."

Dube-Ncube said the eThekwini municipality had taken a battering from the recent storm, recording the highest death toll.

"The combined death toll in the province which includes Ugu so far is at 67, these are verified with SAPS and does not include unverified [deaths]."

She emphasised that it had been a sad week for the province, taking into account the Easter weekend church tragedy.

She said government was still assessing the damage and could not put a figure to it yet as they were still doing assessments.

"The provincial and municipal disaster management officials are deployed to conduct physical assessments of the damages and provide relief where required. Other departments, such as human settlements, engineering, education, health, roads, parks and recreation are also on the ground."

She said the eThekwini municipality had provided temporary shelters to house displaced families in 11 community halls.

"The unprecedented ferocity of this storm has interrupted many people’s lives. However, we have risen to the occasion as part of efforts to alleviate the impact of these disasters on our communities and to bring the lives of the people affected back to normality."

Dube-Ncube praised local NGO's, individuals and community members for providing assistance and being the forerunners in offering their help and services. 

Members of the public who wish to lend a helping hand to the flood victims can send donations to the provincial disaster management centre offices at Mkondeni, Pietermaritzburg, and to the KZN Cogta Mayville offices in Durban.

A special bank account for donations has also been set up, the details of which are:

ABSA, KZN COGTA DISASTER FUND 2019, 4096334685