The KwaZulu-Natal province has been put on a state of alert as more ”ferocious storms” were expected by as early as Friday, the province’s executive committee said on Tuesday.
This comes just days after a ”ferocious storm pounded” the province leaving a ”trail of destruction in its path”, Premier S’bu Ndebele said at a media briefing in Pietermaritzburg.
He urged people to heed the storm warning.
”People need to now gear themselves up… store extra canned food so when it happens, you are not left high and dry.”
He said that even though people were being warned, it was difficult to tell them what to do in the case of such a disaster.
”Even if the warning is two hours ahead, what do they do and where do they go… We now have to come up with ways to deal with this extraordinary situation which seems to be becoming ordinary.”
The premier sat side-by-side with members of the provincial executive committee including Finance MEC Dr Zweli Mkhize, Social Development MEC Meshack Radebe, MEC for Education Ina Cronje and acting MEC for Local Government and Traditional Affairs Mtolephi Mthimkhulu, as he addressed the media.
”This morning we were informed that KwaZulu-Natal must be on a state of alert … We will have more freak storms … and this is our challenge,” said Mthimkhulu.
He said the weather bureau was presently working on a massive awareness campaign.
The media briefing was called after a killer storm ravaged various parts of the province at the weekend, with the executive committee on Tuesday confirming that 15 people had died.
This although local government spokesperson Lennox Mabaso said on Monday night the death toll stood at 18.
Ndebele said reports of deaths were still being verified but that 15 had so far been confirmed.
”We have just learnt, about three hours ago, that an ANC councillor in the uMtshezi municipality has become the latest victim after his car was washed away by torrential rains,” said Ndebele.
A total of 12 736 people were affected by the freak storm and the estimated cost of damage was R108-million.
”The province is still picking up the pieces and tallying the costs,” said Ndebele.
”We are also busy assessing the magnitude of the damage to decide what additional measures government will need to take on in order to bring the lives of the affected communities back to normality,” he said.
”We must understand that this is quite a lot of devastation on top of the poverty that already exists”
Large parts of the uMgungundlovu municipality, the eThekwini municipality, the iLembe municipality, the Sisonke municipality and the uMzinyathi municipality were hit by the storm.
The premier said teams had been working around the clock to bring relief with a joint operations centre established in each of the affected areas.
He said the massive disasters in KwaZulu-Natal over the past few months had put ”a strain” on government resources.
”However, government continues to do everything in its power to mitigate the impact of the disaster… we have assisted families to bury loved ones, we have provided medical care, and we are also helping to reconstruct houses and repair infrastructure.” – Sapa