As floods wreaked havoc on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast this week, it was the poorest residents of the region who suffered the most: more than a thousand homes, almost all in informal settlements, were swept away.
“Pretty much all of the displaced come from informal settlements, and those living in the Umzinto area were worst affected because a small stream turned into a raging river in a very short period of time,” said Red Cross provincial manager Derek Naidoo. “It was very unexpected. There was no warning.”
Within hours, walls of water had made rural roads impassible, preventing residents from salvaging their possessions or fleeing the area. Some were still trapped by rising waters on Thursday, relying on rescue teams to provide them with food, blankets and medical attention.
By Thursday morning, 11 people were believed to have died in the floods and three had been reported missing. About a thousand South Coast residents between Scottburgh and Port Edward had lost their houses and all of their possessions. Several roads were washed away, schools and public buildings were flooded and a number of businesses had to close their doors temporarily.
“The SA Airforce is trying to reach those [still trapped] by helicopter, especially people who need medical help,” said Brian Dube, spokesperson for the Ugu District Municipality’s district disaster management centre.
The floods hit informal settlements harder, said Naidoo because poor people continue to build shacks too close to river banks and the coastline despite efforts by the Red Cross to educate them about the risks. “Because there is no access to running water in informal settlements, people want to settle close to water so that it is easier for them to do their washing and so on. But this makes them particularly vulnerable in situations like this,” he added.
About 700 displaced people have sought refuge in the Umzinto town hall, while 250 people are sleeping in the Port Shepstone civic hall and the Margate Community Market, where the Red Cross is handing out food and blankets. Another 70 people have fled to churches and police stations in the area.
Experts said it was likely that the unusually high rainfalls were caused by climate change. “Weather patterns are becoming more extreme. I am convinced the floods are in part related to climate change,” said Colin Anderson, senior forecaster at the Durban Weather Office.
According to Anderson, the rainfall over the past few days was “definitely above normal”, and much higher than that measured in previous years. “Several records have been broken,” he added.
More than 380mm of rain was measured in Pennington South early on Wednesday, followed by an additional 102mm in the area on Thursday morning. The previous record in the province of 337mm was recorded in Paddock in 1964. Anderson noted, however, that no research data was yet available on changing weather patterns.
While disaster management efforts were under way on Thursday, displaced people and rescue teams experienced some relief as the cold front that had caused the heavy storms started to move out of KwaZulu-Natal and the rainfall slowly subsided. “Although it will continue to be cloudy to partly cloudy for the next couple of days, it will gradually warm up. That’s good news,” said Anderson. Some displaced people returned to residential areas on Thursday in an attempt to rescue some of their possessions.
Out at sea, the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) reported waves more than 6m high. “It was an absolutely unusual storm for this time of the year. The sea was extremely rough and carried lots of trees and debris,” said NSRI regional director Eddie Noyons.
The NSRI used a helicopter to rescue a crew of three from a yacht off Ifafa, which subsequently broke up and sank, and airlifted 10 holidaymakers from The Pont resort on the Umtamvuma river.
Provincial Minister for Local Government, Housing and Traditional Affairs, Mike Mabuyakhulu, and Minister for Social Services and Population Development Meschack Radebe met officials from the Ugu District Municipality on Thursday to assess the disaster and develop a management plan to repair the damage caused to infrastructure and homes.
By the time the Mail & Guardian went to press, no official estimates of the cost of the infrastructural damage had been released. “We are still trying to establish the extent of disaster, but it [will] cost millions of rands,” said Dube.