South African floods leave at least 433 dead – News

The number of deaths due to severe floods in KwaZulu-Natal province, eastern South Africa, on Sunday (17), has risen to 433 victims, in addition to 63 missing persons, according to information from official sources.

The head of the provincial government, Sihel Zikalala, on Sunday, during a press conference, updated the number of victims, and reiterated that these floods are “among the worst disasters in KwaZulu-Natal province in a long time”.

Emergency teams continue to work in the stricken area, which was again on alert this weekend due to rain and wind. Local authorities estimate the damage to the county in the millions and a total of 40,000 people have been affected by the floods since the start of the heavy rains last Monday (11). They also estimated that 3,937 houses were completely destroyed and 8,039 partially destroyed.

catastrophic situation

The South African government declared a state of disaster in the province and sent troops from the army to help with emergency work and search for missing persons. On Sunday, Zikalala said that the province will ask the government to consider declaring a state of disaster at the national level given the scale of the tragedy.

The most affected region is the Durban region, which is the largest city in KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest in South Africa. Severe damage was caused to the electricity infrastructure, running water and many medical centers. According to the calculations of Mxulisi Kaunda, Mayor of Durban, losses in that municipality alone last Thursday (14) were set at 757 million rand (about 50 million euros or 253 million Brazilian reals).

The country’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, visited the affected area last Wednesday (13) and said it was a “disaster of gigantic proportions”, in addition to linking the floods directly to climate change.