Durban’s Oakleigh Avenue in the upmarket suburb of La Lucia boasted beautiful homes with pristine gardens before heavy rains and a flash flood left a trail of destruction in its wake at the weekend.
At least 12 houses are unsalvageable, the road is dotted with sinkholes, and stretches of the tar have been ripped out, forcing families out of their houses for the foreseeable future.
At least six people are confirmed dead and two people reported missing. eThekwini municipality said the northern part of the city was the hardest hit, including areas such as uMhlanga, Verulam, uThongathi and Phoenix. Other reported areas that were affected in the south include uMlazi, Chatsworth and Folweni.
Distraught Oakleigh Avenue pensioner John Nortie is one of those who were left devastated by the storm.
“The water was up to my knees, and it’s something that we had never witnessed before,” said Nortie.
Despite the calamity, Nortie expressed relief that his insurer had assessed the damage. The widower, whose sister-in-law lives in the granny flat, said the house was covered in mud.
Nortie said he was fortunate that his two sons-in-law were able to come to his rescue on Saturday night.
He criticised the embattled eThekwini metro for failing to maintain its stormwater infrastructure.
Quick-thinking neighbour Cath Jenkin, who has been instrumental in helping her neighbours, has been hailed as a hero. She said the alarm had been raised by a neighbour.
“We all know that if someone says ‘get up’ in our neighbourhood, one should not waste any time. When I got outside, the flood waters were raging down the road,” she said.
Most of the people are trying to find alternative places to stay, whiles some are trying see what they can salvage from this disaster.
— La Lucia resident Cath Jenkin
She estimated that the water level could have been two metres high and was gushing through homes with force.
“It was kind of like a tidal wave. Most people lost their boundary walls,” she said.
Family pets were also not spared during the pandemonium.
“Fortunately that is behind us now because we took them to the vets. It’s community efforts. We quickly had to evacuate the families, including their children and some pets. Most of them are now staying with me until such time insurance pays out homeowners,” she said.
The community WhatsApp group proved to be effective in assisting some of the residents.
Though the community has not been affected to this extent before, there have been calls in the past for the municipality to rehabilitate the ailing infrastructure.
“Even during that frantic rush to salvage our lives, we had the fortune of relying on some of our friends and neighbours who dashed in to pump out the water overflow,” said Jenkin.
On Monday, mop-up operations were in overdrive, with both home maintenance and garden services working in earnest.
“Most of the people are trying to find alternative places to stay, some are trying see what they can salvage from this disaster. I guess it’s the job of the insurers and communities to try to remedy the whole situation by stepping in,” said Jenkin.
Shelagh Burgate, 69, said the gushing water resembled waves in a fierce sea.
“This was not like what we experienced in the previous floods in 2022, which claimed over 400 lives and displaced and destroyed massive infrastructure. Back then we were lucky enough to not have been flooded, though there was a lot of water. I suspect that with all the rain and sewage the infrastructure is now buckling under the strain,” Burgate.
She said her husband, who runs a steady business, and other tenants in the duplex had difficulty leaving the premises.
“It’s still quite dangerous. But some of the neighbours in other properties are worse off than us. Cars are flooded up to roofs,” said Burgate.
When disaster struck they had to spring into action to rescue some of the stranded neighbours whose children were on their way back from watching a movie with friends.
“When they suddenly realised the extent of the damage they tried to turn around, which left them destitute. It was scary to see the amount of water and waves,” she said.
She also expressed relief that they still had water supply, but the electricity supply had been affected.
In Zwelisha informal settlement, north of Durban, Bonga Zungu grieved his mother, Ncamisile Zungu, and a nephew after a wall collapsed on her home.
“I am devastated,” said a visibly distressed Zungu.
He said when the rain had started, he never thought it would lead to his mother’s demise.
His mother’s informal house sat on the banks of a river in the densely populated neighbourhood.
“Usually what happens when the rain intensifies, my mother often sought refuge with some of her neighbours,” said Zungu.
But he was unaware of the tragedy.
“Something told me as I approached her house and the neighbours gathered, that something really terrible had happened. I found my mother and the three-year-old kid’s lifeless bodies on the bed,” he said.
The family is originally from Dassenhoek near Marianhill, west of Durban.
“It’s a terrible blow. My mother was everything to me. I am unemployed. She too was unemployed, but we never went to bed without food in our stomachs,” said Zungu.
Neighbour Nomfundo Shezi said: “When I saw the water gushing moments before the wall came down, I tried to assist. When I tried to shout for other neighbours I got no response and ended up going to look for other neighbours. We also thought there was no-one at the house because she often vacates when the weather is bad.”
She said the water had been waist deep.
The funeral has been planned for Sunday.
eThekwini mayor Mxolisi Kaunda visited several areas affected by the rain on Monday.
“Yes, there are sinkholes in the west, such as on the M13 highway, which often plays a key role in harnessing the economic activities of the city, while also connecting with communities that have social amenities,” said Kaunda.
He said the missing people were from Tongaat and Umlazi.
“Our teams are on the ground conducting assessments on the damages so that our response plan will be informed by what is happening on the ground,” said Kaunda.
He admitted that the municipality was managing with minimal resources.
“That is why we are quantifying the damage so that when we put an application through provincial and national government, we know exactly the level and magnitude of damage,” said Kaunda.
He cautioned people living on the banks of rivers to always monitor weather patterns by evacuating themselves from flood plains to save lives.
“Yes, this has an impact on how we deliver services because of the backlog. In 2022, flood-affected people were joined by people who were affected by floods as early as 2017,” said Kaunda.
Ward councillor Nicole Bollman said three of the substations — one in Umhlanga and two in La Lucia — had been submerged in water in her ward.
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