• Latest
  • Trending
  • All
  • News
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Lifestyle
South Africa flood toll rises to 443 as deluge eases

South Africa flood toll rises to 443 as deluge eases

April 18, 2022
Jovan Kagezi scoops Shs 60 million in MTN’s Nsindika Njake entrepreneurship show

Jovan Kagezi scoops Shs 60 million in MTN’s Nsindika Njake entrepreneurship show

July 2, 2022
Civil society fault ministry on destroying expired drugs

NDA impounds drugs worth Shs 100 million in Western Uganda

July 2, 2022
CiplaQCIL, Mengo Rotary Blood Bank launch blood donation drive

CiplaQCIL, Mengo Rotary Blood Bank launch blood donation drive

July 2, 2022
Kabuleta rallies public to fight for Mityana fishermen who face eviction

Kabuleta rallies public to fight for Mityana fishermen who face eviction

July 2, 2022
Five ways to celebrate Valentine’s Day when you’re single

“My boyfriend likes it shaven, my sugar daddy likes it bushy. I am confused!”

July 2, 2022
Fashionista Olaide Daniel Named New Abryanz Ambassador

Fashionista Olaide Daniel Named New Abryanz Ambassador

July 2, 2022
Inside Karuma dam, Uganda’s new tourism marvel

Inside Karuma dam, Uganda’s new tourism marvel

July 2, 2022
Museveni extends contracts for Brig Ddamulira, four other  police directors

Museveni extends contracts for Brig Ddamulira, four other  police directors

July 2, 2022
The Wamala art gives a sneak peak of his art prowess ahead of the Guinness Bright House 

The Wamala art gives a sneak peak of his art prowess ahead of the Guinness Bright House 

July 1, 2022
Civil society fears EACOP will worsen corruption

Civil society fears EACOP will worsen corruption

July 1, 2022
Logo
  • News
    • Business
    • 2021 Elections Watch
      • The Election Podcast
    • Exclusive
    • Investigations
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Security
    • Cyber Security
  • Health
    • Coronavirus outbreak
  • Opinions
    • Columns
      • Parting Shot
      • Two Sides of a Coin
      • Bazanye’s Quick Shots
      • Mable Twegumye Zake’s #BitsOfMe&You
      • But this Year!
      • What Did I Miss?
  • Lifestyle
    • Hatmahz Kitchen
    • Food Hub
    • Let’s Talk About Sex
    • Entertainment
    • Tour & Travel
    • Love Therapist
    • Homes
  • Global
    • Africa
    • Asia
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • The Americas
  • East Africa
    • Kenya
    • Rwanda
    • Tanzania
    • South Sudan
    • DR Congo
    • Ethiopia
    • Sudan
  • Technology
  • Special Reports
    • Kabaka Mutebi’s 25th Coronation Series
    • Focus on Somalia
    • Sino-Africa
    • Uganda at 56
    • Anti-Corruption Fight
    • Age Limit Map
    • Tuve Ku Kaveera
  • Sports
    • Place-It
    • StarTimes Uganda Premier League
    • Bundesliga
    • World Cup
  • Jobs
No Result
View All Result
Logo
No Result
View All Result
Home Global Watch Africa

South Africa flood toll rises to 443 as deluge eases

The death toll from floods that have battered South Africa's east coast has risen to 443, including a rescuer

NP admin by NP admin
April 18, 2022
in Africa
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0
South Africa flood toll rises to 443 as deluge eases

Volunteers clean up massive debris at the Durban harbor following heavy rains, mudslides and rain and winds

The death toll from floods that have battered South Africa’s east coast has risen to 443, including a rescuer, a regional official said on Sunday, as dozens more are still missing.

“The death toll now stands at 443,” Sihle Zikalala, the premier of the KwaZulu-Natal province told a media briefing, adding 63 other people are still unaccounted for.

ADVERTISEMENT

A member of the rescue and recovery team “experienced difficult breathing and was airlifted to… hospital. Unfortunately he passed away.”

AD-03 AD-03 AD-03
ADVERTISEMENT

Rains were starting to let up in the flood-ravaged east, allowing for search and relief aid operations to continue after one of the deadliest storms in living memory.

Zikalala said the “inclement weather has slowed our assessment and rescue operation on the ground, but we are once again back in the full swing.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Floodwaters engulfed parts of the southeastern coastal city of Durban and surrounding areas early last week ripping apart roads, destroying hospitals and sweeping away homes and those trapped inside.

‘Rains clearing’

The city of 3.5 million was overcast but the South African Weather Service’s Puseletso Mofokeng said “rainfall is actually clearing.”

“The rainfall is going to clear [away] completely as we move to Wednesday,” he told AFP.

But recovery operations and humanitarian relief continued in the economic hub and tourist magnet city whose beaches and warm Indian Ocean waters would normally have been teeming with Easter holidaymakers.

The number of flood-related emergency calls had decreased compared to early last week.

“Emergency services are still currently on high alert on Sunday morning,” Robert McKenzie of the provincial KwaZulu-Natal emergency services told AFP.

It rained on Saturday and overnight, “however now, it has stopped,” said McKenzie.

Even so, emergency services were busy attending to a scene in the district of Pinetown where a house collapsed overnight.

“Fortunately now the flood waters have receded and [some] roads cleared. It’s a lot easier to access the community,” he said.

Christians congregated at churches across the city and further afield to offer prayers for those affected by the floods as they celebrated Easter Sunday.

“It’s a tragedy of overwhelming proportions,” said Thabo Makgoba, the Archbishop of Cape Town in his Easter message, a day after his visited Durban.

“The community is suffering severe emotional stress and pain,” said Makgoba, successor to Desmond Tutu.

Government, churches and charities were marshalling relief aid for the more than 40,000 people left homeless by the raging floodwaters.

The government has announced an immediate one billion rand ($68 million) in emergency relief funding.

Hospitals and schools destroyed

Deputy Social Development Minister Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu, said some 340 social workers had been deployed to offer support to traumatized survivors with many still missing children and other relatives.

Most casualties were in Durban, a port city and a major economic hub.

Parts of the city have been without water and electricity since Monday after floods ripped away infrastructure.

Scores of hospitals and hundreds of schools have been destroyed.

The intensity of the floods took South Africa, the most economically advanced African country, by surprise.

FILE - A member South African Police Services (SAPS) Search and Rescue Unit guide their sniffer dog during search efforts to locate ten people who are unaccounted for from area of KwaNdengezi township outside Durban on Apr. 15, 2022.
FILE – A member South African Police Services (SAPS) Search and Rescue Unit guide their sniffer dog during search efforts to locate ten people who are unaccounted for from area of KwaNdengezi township outside Durban on Apr. 15, 2022.

While the southeastern region has suffered some flooding before, the devastation has never been so severe. South Africans have previously watched similar tragedies hit neighboring countries such as cyclone-prone Mozambique.

These floods have forced President Cyril Ramaphosa to postpone a working visit to Saudi Arabia that was scheduled to begin Tuesday.

The loss of hundreds of lives “and thousands of homes, as well as the economic impact and the destruction of infrastructure, calls for all hands on deck,” said Ramaphosa.

The country is still struggling to recover from the COVID pandemic and deadly riots last year that killed more than 350 people, mostly in the now flood-struck southeastern region.

Source: VOA 

Tags: flood victimsglobal warmingSouth Africasouth africa floods
ShareTweetSend
Previous Post

Malawi police accused of hacking website of investigative media group

Next Post

Joint West African Force says more than 100 insurgents killed in recent weeks

NP admin

NP admin

Related Posts

Sudan says it has retaken disputed land from Ethiopia

Sudan says it has retaken disputed land from Ethiopia

by NP admin
June 29, 2022
0

Ethiopian and Sudanese forces have clashed at the disputed al-Fashaga border area following the alleged capture, execution and public display...

Police trying to understand why 21 young people dropped dead in a nightclub

Police trying to understand why 21 young people dropped dead in a nightclub

by NP admin
June 28, 2022
0

Yellow police tape now cordons off the drinking place in the South African city of East London where 21 teenagers...

At least 20 people drop dead in nightclub and no one knows why

At least 20 people drop dead in nightclub and no one knows why

by NP admin
June 27, 2022
0

South African police are investigating the deaths of at least 20 people at a nightclub in the coastal town of...

African becomes the most followed person on Tik-Tok

African becomes the most followed person on Tik-Tok

by NP admin
June 24, 2022
0

Senegalese-born TikTok star Khaby Lame is now the biggest TikToker in the world. The 22-year-old did it without saying a...

Next Post
Joint West African Force says more than 100 insurgents killed in recent weeks

Joint West African Force says more than 100 insurgents killed in recent weeks

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
“My life is in danger” journalist who broke the story on Speaker’s Shs 2.8 bn cars cries out

“My life is in danger” journalist who broke the story on Speaker’s Shs 2.8 bn cars cries out

June 28, 2022
Museveni to continue with army meetings amidst internal unsettlement rumors

Museveni to continue with army meetings amidst internal unsettlement rumors

June 26, 2022

Pastor who divorced wife for denying him conjugal rights for 10 years advises women to deny men sex if they are not developing

June 28, 2022
Jovan Kagezi scoops Shs 60 million in MTN’s Nsindika Njake entrepreneurship show

Jovan Kagezi scoops Shs 60 million in MTN’s Nsindika Njake entrepreneurship show

July 2, 2022
Civil society fault ministry on destroying expired drugs

NDA impounds drugs worth Shs 100 million in Western Uganda

July 2, 2022
CiplaQCIL, Mengo Rotary Blood Bank launch blood donation drive

CiplaQCIL, Mengo Rotary Blood Bank launch blood donation drive

July 2, 2022
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Careers
Call us: +256-417-720-101
Email: [email protected]

© 2020 Nile Post Uganda Ltd. - A Next Media Services Company.

No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Business
    • 2021 Elections Watch
      • The Election Podcast
    • Exclusive
    • Investigations
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Security
    • Cyber Security
  • Health
    • Coronavirus outbreak
  • Opinions
    • Columns
      • Parting Shot
      • Two Sides of a Coin
      • Bazanye’s Quick Shots
      • Mable Twegumye Zake’s #BitsOfMe&You
      • But this Year!
      • What Did I Miss?
  • Lifestyle
    • Hatmahz Kitchen
    • Food Hub
    • Let’s Talk About Sex
    • Entertainment
    • Tour & Travel
    • Love Therapist
    • Homes
  • Global
    • Africa
    • Asia
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • The Americas
  • East Africa
    • Kenya
    • Rwanda
    • Tanzania
    • South Sudan
    • DR Congo
    • Ethiopia
    • Sudan
  • Technology
  • Special Reports
    • Kabaka Mutebi’s 25th Coronation Series
    • Focus on Somalia
    • Sino-Africa
    • Uganda at 56
    • Anti-Corruption Fight
    • Age Limit Map
    • Tuve Ku Kaveera
  • Sports
    • Place-It
    • StarTimes Uganda Premier League
    • Bundesliga
    • World Cup
  • Jobs

© 2020 Nile Post Uganda Ltd. - A Next Media Services Company.