South African police, army and volunteer rescuers have expanded the search for dozens who are still missing five days after the deadliest storm that hit the city of Durban alive after the death toll rose to nearly 400.
The floods, which affected nearly 41,000 people, left a trail of destruction and killed at least 395 people, said Sifo Hlomouka, regional head of the ministry for disaster management.
Recalling the Covid-19 pandemic and the deadly July riots, President Cyril Ramaphosa described the floods as “a catastrophe of great proportions … never seen before in our country” and called for Good Friday prayers for survivors.
“Just as we thought it was safe to get out [the Covid] disaster, we have another disaster, a natural disaster that is coming down in our country, especially in our province of KwaZulu-Natal. “The floods have caused a lot of devastation, a lot of devastation,” he said.
As the government coordinates the search and rescue operation, the official number of missing people in KwaZulu-Natal province is 55.
A fleet of cars and helicopters carrying police experts set off early Friday to cross a valley in the suburb of Marianhill, west of Durban, to search for 12 people reported missing in the floods, AFP correspondents reported.
This is an increasingly desperate search for survivors. Travis Trower, director of the volunteer-run Rescue South Africa, said his team found only corpses after tracking 85 calls Thursday.
Thousands of survivors, left homeless after their homes were destroyed, are housed in shelters scattered around the city, sleeping on cardboard sheets and mattresses on the floors.
Housing Minister Mmamoloko Kubay said 13,593 houses had been damaged, of which nearly 4,000 had been completely destroyed.
Meanwhile, volunteers, wearing gloves and garbage bags, scattered on the city’s beaches to collect debris left by the huge storms.
Software manager Morne Mustard, 35, was among the many volunteers, including children, who collected debris and broken reeds from the famous Umhlanga Beach in Durban. “This is my local beach where I take my kids and we spend our weekends here, so it’s for our community,” he said.
He enlisted colleagues, family and friends to help clean up, as beach restaurants offered a free breakfast for volunteers.
Recalling the day it rained, Mustard said: “It didn’t feel real, absolute devastation, horrible sight, things spilling on the beach must have come from someone’s house … brooms and mops, household utensils.
Some of Durban’s poorest residents are queuing up to collect water from leaking pipes and digging up layers of mud to reclaim their meager possessions.
Ramaphosa declared the region a state of emergency to unlock aid funds. Speaking to Newzroom Afrika TV, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said the initial tranche of one billion rand ($ 68 million) to fund emergency aid was available immediately.
Weather forecasters said apocalyptic rain levels had been pouring into the region for several days.
Some areas have received more than 450 mm (18 inches) in 48 hours, or nearly half of Durban’s annual rainfall, the National Weather Service said.
The South African Meteorological Service issued an Easter warning over the weekend for thunderstorms and floods in KwaZulu-Natal until Saturday night.
More than 4,000 police officers have been deployed to assist in the relief effort and to maintain law and order amid reports of sporadic robberies.
The port of Durban, one of the largest in the southern hemisphere, resumed shipping on Thursday afternoon after closing during the floods, state logistics firm Transnet said.
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