WATCH | Surviving floods: why mental health services can’t be an afterthought

Imagine watching loved ones swept away, land and livestock destroyed, possessions lost within hours. For many, that’s reality as climate disasters wreak havoc on lives and livelihoods

October 30, 2025 at 04:30 am

Jessica Pitchford

Thatego Mashabela

Ryan Logie

Jeannine Snyman

A man attempts to clear a water drain on Quarry Road in Springfield, KwaZulu-Natal, where two vehicles were submerged after severe flooding. The SA Weather Service has issued a level 6 warning for disruptive rain over KZN from midnight on Thursday. — A man attempts to clear a water drain on Quarry Road in Springfield, KwaZulu-Natal, where two vehicles were submerged after severe flooding. (SANDILE NDLOVU)

At eMbo, about 50km outside Durban, flood survivors are teaming up with researchers from the Africa Health Research Institute at the University of KwaZulu-Natal to show how climate disasters affect people’s mental health.

eMbo’s people lived through the devastating floods of 2022.

Through digital storytelling, such as drawing pictures of their experiences and voice recordings, residents turn their personal trauma into evidence, detailing the emotional costs of floods and droughts.

The project is part of the Weather Events and Mental Health Analysis (Wema) study, which is doing similar work in Kenya, Mozambique and Burkina Faso, creating a picture of how climate change is affecting communities across Africa.

The goal: to use this newly collected evidence to push for policies that make mental health support a core part of disaster recovery, not an afterthought.