Severe flooding claims lives and displaces residents
AREAS including Isipingo and Amanzimtoti were severely affected by last night's storm, which also claimed the lives of four people.
Homes, businesses, roads and informal structures were flooded and damaged, with the eThekwini Municipality saying there were reports of entrapments.
“Four fatalities were reported in Folweni, KwaMakhutha, Demat and Ensimbini after a wall collapsed, while the occupants were asleep," said the city in a statement.
“The team worked through the night to aid the trapped victims. Unfortunately, four people died, which comprised a 45-year-old male in KwaMakhutha, a 13-year-old male in Folweni, a 12-year-old female in Demat, and a 13-year-old female in Ensimbini."
The South African Weather Service released a Yellow Level 2 warning with widespread showers and thundershowers to be expected over southwestern KZN for yesterday. It warned that the rainfall accumulation would be at least 40mm to 100mm.
Mark Gounder, a community activist from Isipingo who helped in rescue efforts during the floods of 2022, said many businesses and homes were affected.
“Many businesses are closed today," said Gounder.
“All the canals were filled with water. If we have a second round of rain and flooding today, as indicated by the weather services, we will be in a bad situation.
“Our biggest issue is the bad drainage systems. The water could not get into the manholes because of the sand build-up from the previous floods. The storm water drains were not cleaned out and, as a result, the flooding repeats itself."
He said Crab City was the worst affected with water reaching a meter high.
According to the Forecast Early Warning System, 184mm of rain was reported in Amanzimtoti between midnight and 5am today.
Jace Govender, from Lifesaving South Africa, said the flooding left many roads impassable and traffic gridlocked.
"Isipingo Beach is a no-go zone, and while some areas around Amanzintoti have started draining, conditions remain dangerous."
Govender and other community members decided to open the river mouth at Isipingo beach to release excess water from the lake.
“We were monitoring the water levels from last night and as the level reached 60%, we decided to let the water out of the lake. We opened the river mouth at 4 or 5am and the water was pushed through to the sea, so the flooding at the coastal homes subsided.
"Five homes were flooded but not too severely. Luckily the water level has leveled on the beach but the inner roads still have water because of the poor drainage."
There are reports of trees being uprooted and obstructing roadways in areas including Chatsworth, Umkhomazi, Morningside and Verulam.
According to SAWS, KZN will be partly cloudy tonight with scattered showers and thundershowers with minimum/maximum temperatures at 20/26.