South Africa: Most Deadly Flood Kills Over 300

The latest death toll from the series of floods in South Africa was 306, according to local authorities on Wednesday 13 April. The country is currently facing the worst flooding in its history for the past 60 years.

After several days of heavy rains in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, around the port city of Durban on the east coast of South Africa, the toll is quite terrifying. Bridges collapsed, roads submerged, thousands of houses destroyed, at least 140 schools affected, not to mention the flood of bodies in morgues; 306 people actually lost their lives. This is the worst flood in over 60 years. The previous death toll was 259.

“A disaster of huge dimensions

Indeed, “In 48 hours, more than 450 mm of water has fallen in some areas,” Dipuo Tawana, a forecaster at the National Meteorological Institute, told AFP. The specialists compared the level of rainfall to that “normally associated with cyclones”.

This state of affairs led South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to visit a poor suburb of Durban in the morning of Wednesday to visit the bereaved families and deplore “a disaster of enormous proportions”. “Bridges have collapsed. Roads collapsed. People have died. Our people are injured. This is a disaster of enormous proportions,” the head of state said.

Drama

For example, the Head of State listened a father tell how he lost his four children. They were asleep in another room, with the electricity cut off and the water rising in the middle of the night with force, and he could not save them. “We see similar tragedies happening in Mozambique, in Zimbabwe, but today we are the ones affected,” said Cyril Ramaphosa.

In addition, it should be noted that the military was mobilised to provide air support during the evacuations. For several days, the main roads have been submerged by torrents of water, on which signs and traffic lights are floating. On Durban’s beaches, usually filled with tourists and families, there are bottles and waste washed up. Activity at the port and rail links were suspended, containers were swept away. The heavy rains also caused power cuts and disrupted water supplies. The population is called upon to avoid all displacement.

In addition, over the next few days, forecasts have warned of persistent rain and the risk of localised flooding. The region already experienced massive destruction in July during an unprecedented wave of rioting and looting.