Durban - Two people have lost their lives and several roads were damaged by torrential rains that have swept through Durban.
eThekwini Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda is expected to visit families whose homes were damaged by heavy rains in the north of Durban. Mayoral spokesperson Mluleki Mntungwa said two people are reported to have lost their lives in Inanda.
A Phoenix couple is lucky to be alive when neighbours stopped their car from being swept towards a ditch on Greenbury Drive on Monday night. The Phoenix area was hard hit by the torrential rainfall with many of the roads being affected by pools of water on the surface.
Levy and his wife Jenny Nair were returning home from work when a wave of water hit their car as they were entering their complex. Levy told the Daily News that whenever it rained there were pools of water that accumulated at the front gate of the complex.
“I slowed down to enter the complex and when I looked into the rear-view mirror I saw this wave of water coming at us from behind the car. I think an embankment burst behind us. Within a minute the car was floating and the water was seeping into the car. I pressed the hooter to alert anyone in the vicinity,” he said.
Levy a father of two children, said neighbours rushed to their assistance and in chest-deep water.
“Neighbours opened the door and we scrambled out. My wife was hyper ventilating. You only see this in the movies when cars are submerging into the water but we never thought we would experience something like this. If neighbours did not help we would have been swept into the ditch next to the road and nobody would have known,” Levy said.
Bluff resident Duncan Du Bois said his rain gauge recorded 106mm of rain.
On Tuesday, Palmview resident Samantha Naidoo was cleaning up her home after a precast and hollow block wall collapsed in her back yard. The deluge spread into the house with residents scrambling to assist the homeowner. Naidoo said they used whatever they could from mops to towels to stop the water from spreading further into the house. eThekwini Ward 51 Councillor Managi Johnson said the roads and storm water teams were in the area this morning to assess the situation.
eThekwini Municipality spokesperson Mandla Nsele said the city is ready and prepared to assist residents affected by the heavy rainfall. A number of areas in eThekwini have been affected by the substantial rainfall including the north to the inner west as well as parts of the inner city. The city will be monitoring flood plain areas as well. Nsele said they were still gathering more details of damages caused by the rains.
The M4 between uMhlanga Rocks and Sibiya Circle has also been affected as part of the ground and one lane washed away. The road remained closed.