Most of the victims died in the area of the city of Durban, one of the main African ports in the province of Kwazulu-Natal (KZN, east) and epicenter of the storm that began last weekend.
As a result of the situation, the authorities declared a “state of catastrophe”, the AFP news agency reported.
“A total of 40,723 people have been affected. Unfortunately, 341 deaths have been recorded,” said provincial minister Sihle Zikalala. at a press conference.
More than 100 bodies were deposited in the Phoenix morgue, on the outskirts of Durban.
“It’s too much,” said one of the employees who did not want to be identified, speaking of the lines of families who came to bring their dead.
As indicated, burials are prohibited until the flooded ground stabilizes.
Rains, which reached levels unseen in more than 60 years, brought down bridges and roads, cutting off much of this coastal region from the Indian Ocean, affecting more than 250 schools, and destroying thousands of homes.
The authorities announced the opening of some 20 emergency shelters that house more than 2,100 homeless people.
While waiting to be rescued, thousands of survivors were left to fend for themselves. “There is no one here to help us,” said Thobele Sikhephen, 35, outside his muddy tin township house.
There were also sporadic protests demanding help. In a statement, the Durban authorities asked for “patience” and explained that the relief efforts were slowed down “due to the magnitude of the damage to the roads.”
Some roads were bulldozed and reopened but most remain inaccessible, littered with debris or drenched in brown water.
The authorities asked the population to avoid contact with the potentially “contaminated” water as much as possible.
In the Amaoti ghetto, north of Durban, where most houses are made of corrugated iron or wooden planks, groups of people were filling buckets with drinking water from pipes exposed after the collapse of a huge section of a road.
In some areas, water and electricity have been cut off for four days and everything is missing.
Local authorities put out an appeal for donations of non-perishable food, bottled water and anything else to keep warm.
There was also looting and surveillance camera footage shared on social media showed people raiding supermarket shelves.
At the port, cranes were picking up the huge metal containers that the previous day’s rains had thrown onto the highway.
This region already experienced massive destruction in July, during an unprecedented wave of rioting and looting.
Weather forecasts call for storms and the risk of localized flooding over the Easter weekend.
In addition, the new storms are expected to affect the neighboring provinces of Free State (center) and Eastern Cape (southeast).
The authorities spoke of “one of the worst storms in the history of the country” while President Cyril Ramaphosa lamented “a disaster of enormous proportions”.
Source: Ambito
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