Floods
Severe weather warning issued for KZN as torrential rains lash the province
The weather service has issued a level 10 warning for torrential rain, flooding and mudslides in some coastal areas of the KZN.
There is absolutely no way to deny that we are now in the middle of a climate-induced catastrophe whose consequences can not yet be fathomed.
President Cyril Ramaphosa says in his weekly newsletter that the departments of home affairs, health and social development have been assisting affected communities to access important services.
Mayoral committee member for urban waste management Grant Twigg says the R48million will be set aside to ensure that residents and the city infrastructure are safeguarded from heavy rains.
Informal settlements in low-lying areas are most at risk. Every year, areas in Khayelitsha, Philippi and Mfuleni are left waterlogged following heavy rains.
KZN premier Sihle Zikalala addressed mourners in Pietermaritzburg at the mass funeral of six members of the Mdlalose family who were swept away in raging waters when their house collapsed.
Premier Sihle Zikalala says he understands the comfort that comes with knowing where a person has buried their loved ones.
This includes real-time audits by the office of the Auditor-General and stronger reporting requirements demanded by the National Treasury.
The girls were swept away after a massive pipe understood to be part of the local water supply network smashed into their home while they were asleep.
The floods in Kwa-Zulu-Natal have not only made us suffer economically but the rhythm of our spirituality has also been disturbed.
The KwaZulu-Natal Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs' department says 27 people are still missing.
Old Mutual Insure spokesperson Lizo Mnguni says they expect more people to claim for insurance over the next couple of weeks.
More than 300 people have been killed since rains - the heaviest in six decades - destroyed homes and infrastructure in KwaZululu-Natal.
Senior assistant at the ombudsman for short-term insurance Ayanda Mazwi says most people do not know of this insurance or can't afford it.
Most of the deaths from tropical storm Megi -- the strongest to hit the disaster-prone archipelago this year -- were in the central province of Leyte where a series of landslides devastated communities.
The country's meteorologists forecasted more "disruptive" rains on the way Tuesday night but expected the "rainfall system" to weaken "considerably" on Wednesday.
Buildings have collapsed, roads have been swept away, houses are buried beneath mudslides and emergency services have spent the night rescuing and evacuating people from their homes.
Eyewitness News’s Masechaba Sefularo visited the Eerste Fabrief settlement in Tshwane where rescue operations are underway following heavy flooding.
Emergency services officials have warned residents in areas affected by flooding in Gauteng to be cautious as more rain was expected.