IN PICS | Death toll from heavy rains in KZN rises to six

The death toll from heavy rains which hit mainly the south of Durban rose to six on Thursday. 

eThekwini municipality spokesperson Gugu Sisilana said an Adams Mission couple, Sphindile and Mlungisi Mhlongo, were the latest fatalities. 

“Disaster management teams worked through the night to aid the trapped victims. Unfortunately, four other people died including a 45-year-old man in KwaMakhutha, a 13-year-old boy in Folweni, a 12-year-old girl in Demat and a 13-year-old girl in Ensimbini.”

According to the forecast early warning system, 184mm of rain was reported in the Amanzimtoti area between midnight and 5am on Thursday. Most of the flooding was recorded in areas south of the city, including Amanzimtoti, Moorton, Clairwood and Isipingo.

The latest tragedy came as co-operative governance and traditional affairs MEC Rev Thulasizwe Buthelezi signed memorandums of understanding on disaster management with five organisations and companies.

Buthelezi said the province often bore the brunt of bad weather.

“Yesterday [Wednesday] in Eshowe we received a report that a child was swept away while crossing a river. Our teams are trying to recover the body. This means that just this week as a province we have lost six lives due to the weather.

He said since December last year the province received more than 30 weather warnings from the SA Weather Service, ranging from level 1 to orange level 5.

“Just this week, we had a level 5 warning for disruptive rain in the coastal and northern areas. These warnings are crucial, helping our teams prepare and alert communities to impending dangers. The recent weather has taken a serious toll.

“Sadly, since December, we have lost 30 lives, which includes the six people that we lost this week. We have also had 33 people injured, and 2,091 households affected, with 1,646 structures completely destroyed and 872 partially damaged, impacting 18,011 people in total. And 554 people were left homeless and are receiving ongoing support.

“The estimated cost of this damage is R3.1bn,  with R2.2bn impacting public infrastructure and R261m affecting homes and businesses. This puts a huge strain on our resources, especially as our annual municipal infrastructure grant is about R3bn.”

In December 2023 and January 2024, 62 lives were lost and the province suffered R4.7bn in damage.

He said the department was looking for technological partners to provide field workers with data capturing equipment to record incidents on the ground and upload them for real-time reporting during disasters.

He said ongoing and future initiatives are being negotiated with Sanral and eThekwini municipality. 

MOUs were signed with:

• Al-Imdaad Foundation and SA Red Cross Society: Disaster Relief (essentials, shelter, food), Snow Situations (snack packs, hot meals), Drought Help (boreholes, water), VIP Visits & Search & Rescue.
• Old Mutual Provincial Management Board and Santam Limited: Strengthening fire services, Fire Services App, Greenbook implementation support, community education, risk management, training support, early warning systems, disaster relief.
• Umsamo Institute: Protecting indigenous knowledge, integrating traditional healing, enhancing community resilience.
• Global Disaster Relief Foundation: Immediate Aid (supplies), On-the-ground Support (volunteers), Rehabilitation & Recovery (rebuilding, psychosocial 5 support), Preparedness & Education (workshops), Resource Management & Assessment (co-ordination).
• Start — Specialised technical rescue teams: Strengthening fire services readiness. Community education awareness, advocacy and research on fire, flood and drought hazards, assistant on disaster risk reduction.

TimesLIVE