South Africa is preparing for further heavy rains on the east coast this weekend after last week’s torrential rain killed about 400 people and left thousands homeless.
At least 40,000 people in the province of KwaZulu-Natal were left without shelter, power or water last week, while water services were also shut down and operations in one of Africa’s busiest ports of Durban disrupted.
Citizens are now facing further devastation as more rainfall is forecast for the coming days.
Gloria Linda said she was “so worried” when she hid under a large umbrella by a muddy road near where she lived in KwaNdengezi, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) inland from the main eastern coastal town Durban.
Image:
Further heavy showers are expected in the coming days
She added: “Many people’s homes have been damaged, many people have died.
“We have no water, no electricity, even our phones are dead. We are stuck.”
She then started walking down a dirt road to attend a funeral of a friend who was killed by the floods.
Many relatives searched for missing members of their families under the wreckage, but found only the bodies of the victims.
Elsewhere, a family stood in the rain looking at their collapsed metal shack, one of several destroyed houses.
Muzi Mzobe, 59, rented a house to tenants, but they were killed in the floods.
He said: “We called the police, we called the ambulance, we called the fire brigade, none of them responded on time.
“Four people were sitting here in rubble, and by the time we got them out, they were already gone.”
South Africa: Nearly 400 people killed by heavy rainfall – with more heavy rain coming | World news
