South Africa is preparing for further heavy rains on the east coast this weekend, after heavy rains killed about 400 people last week and left thousands homeless.
At least 40,000 people in KwaZulu-Natal province have been without shelter, electricity and water in the past week, while water supplies have also been cut off and operations at one of Africa’s busiest ports in Durban have been suspended.
State television SABC reported today that the death toll is now 398, with 27 people still unaccounted for.
Citizens are now facing further devastation as more rainfall is forecast in the coming days.
Gloria Linda said she was “so worried” as she took shelter under a large umbrella by a muddy road near where she lived in Kwandengezi, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) inland from the main east coast town of Durban.
Photo: More heavy rains are expected in the coming days
She added: “Many people’s houses have been damaged, many people have died.
“We don’t have water, electricity, even our phones are dead. We’re stuck.”
She then set out on a dirt road to attend the funeral of a friend who had been killed in the floods.
Many relatives searched for missing family members among the remains, but found only the bodies of victims.
Elsewhere, a family stood in the rain watching their collapsed metal shed, one of several destroyed houses.
Muzi Mzobe, 59, was renting a house to tenants, but they died in the floods.
He said: “We called the police, we called the ambulance, we called the fire department, none of them responded in time.
“Four people were covered in rubble here, and when we took them out, they had already passed.
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