Friday, April 15, 2022

On Wednesday, heavy rains and resulting flooding were confirmed to have killed over 300 people in KwaZulu-Natal province on the eastern coast of South Africa, including the large port city of Durban.

The flooding delayed rescue efforts by the South African National Defence Force, though it managed to deploy some helicopters and personnel according to General Rudzani Maphwanya. Authorities were working to restore electricity to the area.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said: “This disaster is part of climate change. It is telling us that climate change is serious, it is here … We no longer can postpone what we need to do, and the measures we need to take to deal with climate change.”

eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality was heavily damaged. Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda said it was hard to reach power and water facilities. Sipho Hlomuka of the Executive Council for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs in KwaZulu-Natal said: “The heavy rains have affected power lines in many municipalities with technical teams working around the clock to restore power.”