Durban - THE northern parts of KwaZulu-Natal have been hit by heavy rains again, barely two weeks after tropical storm Eloise left a trail of destruction in the region.
Over the weekend, areas in the Jozini and Umhlabuyalingana municipalities received a significant amount of rainfall, leaving some areas with localised flooding.
South African Weather Service forecaster Stacy Colborne said the weather experienced in northern KZN was pretty much what they were expecting when they issued a severe rainfall weather warning last week.
Colborne said between Saturday night and yesterday morning River View and Makhathini had both received 86.2mm of rainfall. Mbazwana received 74.8mm, Richards Bay 62.4mm, Chaka’s Creek 51mm and Pongola 25.8mm.
Colborne said the heavy rains were expected to continue today and would only subside tomorrow.
Jozini ward 6 councillor Vusi Gumede said heavy rains had battered the area every week since tropical storm Eloise and the past weekend had been no different.
Dams were overflowing and rivers and roads were flooded, while a car was submerged in rapidly flowing water.
Gumede said it was still raining, with the likelihood that more damage would be caused.
“Some areas cannot be accessed because of heavy rains. The dams are overflowing and the water is making its way into people’s homes and other homes have been destroyed.”
He said neighbouring wards had been affected as well, but not as badly as his.
Luckily, he said, there had been no fatal incidents because of the weather.
Meanwhile, according to the Department of Water and Sanitation, Pongolapoort Dam, now called Jozini Dam, had increased in capacity, from 41.8% on January 26 to 48.4% on February 8.
Four more KZN dams have shown significant increases in capacity. Bivane Dam (near Vryheid) increased from 87.9% to 103%, Hluhluwe Dam (north of Richards Bay) from 68.9% to 95.1%, Woodstock Dam (west of Ladysmith) from 90.3% to 98.3% and Zaaihoek Dam (north of Newcastle) from 61.9% to 73.1%.
Last week, Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) MEC Sipho Hlomuka directed disaster management teams across the province to be on high alert as more rains were expected over the weekend in the northern parts of KZN.
Disaster management teams were also dealing with floods in uThukela district where towns such as Ladysmith and Winterton were left flooded after persistent heavy rains.
Daily News