Four South Africans are still missing after Hurricane Katrina struck the United States city of New Orleans last week, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Monday.
”Over the weekend, a total of 17 South Africans had been put on the emergency management system list,” said spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa.
”By today [Monday], 13 of these were successfully contacted, or have made contact with their families.”
Only four remain on the list, said Mamoepa.
He said the South African embassy in Washington is in constant touch with the US State Department about citizens in the affected area.
The department will continue to liaise with affected families.
”The Department of Foreign Affairs has been dealing with calls from the public, enquiring of the whereabouts of family members and friends with whom they have not had contact since the devastating Hurricane Katrina last week Monday.”
Minister of Foreign Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said last week that natural disasters like these highlight the need for countries in the world to work together to address contributing factors, such as climate change.
”Our hearts go out to those families and relatives and the American people as a whole.
”It reminds us we all have to work together to do everything we can to … mitigate these kinds of natural disasters — climate change etc. This is why it is so important for the world to work together to control some of the human acts [resulting in] climate change.”
The US has been criticised for its contribution to global warming and for refusing to sign the Kyoto Protocol on cutting greenhouse-gas emissions.
Some scientists have reportedly suggested that global warming is contributing to an increase in the ferocity of hurricane activity. — Sapa