Durban - Disaster Management teams remained on high alert on Wednesday after heavy rains caused flash flooding, structural damage, mudslides and vehicle collisions in Durban and surrounds.
The search resumed on Wednesday for a Sunningdale woman who went missing during the heavy rains on Monday, while driving in Glen Anil.
Flooding has claimed at least four lives in the greater Durban area: two people died in a Mayville mudslide; a man died when a wall collapsed in uMlazi; and a Chatsworth woman died when she was swept away from her car by a swollen stream.
Police confirmed one death in uMlazi, where a 47-year-old was killed when a wall collapsed on his shack at about 8am on Tuesday.
Police spokesman, Lieutenant-Colonel Thulani Zwane, said the man was crushed by the wall.
Emergency Medical Services paramedics responded to numerous incidents last night, including in uMlazi L-section, where a wall had fallen on a 2-year-old child.
“Fortunately, the child sustained only minor injuries,” said EMS spokesman, Robert Mckenzie, this morning.
He said there had been reports of heavy flooding and numerous vehicle crashes.
“As EMS we are still on high alert and disaster management teams will again be assessing damages and providing assistance to those who have been affected,” he said.
The eThekwini Municipality reported structural collapses in Quarry Road West, Calendula Crescent and Quartz Drive, Mayville, Twilight Avenue, and uMlazi.
No one was injured in these incidents.
“We have received three reports of mudslides in eZimbokodweni, Mayville and Rickburn Crescent. Two people were buried in a mudslide in Mayville and more than 30 homes were washed away in Mayville,” said a municipal statement.
The city’s disaster management centre was inundated with reports of flooded homes in areas including oThongathi, uMlazi, Bonela, Crimpy Avenue, Isipingo Hills and eManzimtoti.
Meanwhile motorists and commuters spent hours trapped in traffic because of flooding of roads and bridges on Tuesday.
Twenty people escaped with injuries when two buses collided in Old North Coast Road, while crashes were reported on Higginson Highway, the N2 near eManzimtoti, the N3 before the Mariannhill Plaza, the M65 near oThongathi, M7 west-bound at Queensburgh and the M35 near the Philani Mall.
One near-drowning incident was reported in eZimbokodweni, near uMlazi Y-section.
Two children were washed away in a stream, but they were rescued by the South African Police Search and Rescue team. No fatalities have been reported.
The municipality received more than 400 reports of power outages from various parts of the city, “largely due to water seeping into power stations”, eThekwini spokeswoman, Tozi Mthethwa, said. The department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs reported that a massive rock had fallen on to a house in Avoca Hills. No one was injured.
In uMlazi’s W-section, the heavy rain caused a boundary wall to collapse, landing on three cars parked at the home of Slindile Chiliza.
She said the wall, made of cement blocks, had fallen so hard on her family’s three cars, the sound could be heard over the noise of the thunder and heavy rain.
No rain is expected in Durban on Wednesday, but there is a 30% chance of rain in other parts of the province.
It will be cloudy for the rest of the week, with rain expected over Durban on Saturday night. -
Daily News