Gallery: KwaZulu-Natal battered by heavy rains
By Bronwyn Gerretsen and Kamini Padayachee
Seven people died in strong winds and heavy rain that lashed KwaZulu-Natal yesterday. Roads and rivers were flooded, vehicles were swept away, walls collapsed, cars collided and roofs were blown off.
The wind and rain moved quickly up the coast, resulting in flooding in the south, closed roads in Durban and causing the harbour to shut down, and tearing roofs off houses in KwaDukuza as it moved north.
He said R8,9 million worth of aid was on hand It continued raining in most of the province even after the worst of the downpours had eased.
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Wind speeds reached up to 70 knots at lunch time at Richards Bay harbour, while planes were grounded at Durban International Airport, disrupting travel plans.
E-mails saying that a cyclone would hit the province had people in a frenzy, worrying about their homes, children and pets. However, the weather service dismissed the mails as a hoax, saying the weather resulted from a coastal low-pressure system.
"The system moved up the KZN coast and a ridge of high pressure behind it resulted in a strong on-shore flow and heavy rains," said meteorologist Karl Loots.
The wind gusted up to 60km/h in parts of Durban, with 40mm of rain falling by the late afternoon. Paddock and Margate recorded 125mm and 100mm of rain respectively.
A motorist drowned in the Port Shepstone area when his car was swept into a river and a schoolgirl was presumed dead after being washed away while crossing a river on her way to school.
At KwaDukuza, a man was killed when a wall collapsed on to the car he and three others were sitting in. His body was cut out of the vehicle, said chief fire officer Adrian Barnes.
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