Durban - Illegal electricity connections hampered a two-hour rescue and evacuation operation at an informal settlement in Verulam, north of Durban, on Monday afternoon, while emergency services and private security companies were out and about evacuating people from flood-prone areas and disaster areas.
Reaction Unit South Africa (Rusa) spokesperson Prem Balram said residents from the Coniston Informal Settlement in Coniston had to be evacuated on Monday afternoon.
“Several hundred families living in the Coniston Informal Settlement in Coniston, KZN, had to be evacuated after the Umdloti River burst its banks this afternoon (Monday),” Balram said.
He said Rusa had received multiple calls at approximately 4.45pm from residents reporting several women and children trapped in homes.
“Reaction officers removed their gear and made their way to several homes and removed and assisted to evacuate the occupants. Illegal electricity connections hampered the two-hour rescue operation,” Balram said.
He added that between 6am and 6pm on Monday, Rusa officers attended to 72 flood-related call-outs.
Meanwhile, Marshall Security spokesperson Tyron Powell said more evacuations had to be conducted in Umdloti, north of Durban, as flooding continues.
“Two more apartment buildings on North Beach Road have been evacuated following further flooding in the area. These are in the same vicinity as the building that was evacuated earlier today (Monday),” Powell said.
Powell had said a resident was stuck in an evacuated block of flats in Umdloti.
“One of the residents in the block of flats that had been evacuated earlier today (Monday) due to the mudslide that had swept through the building, has been trapped in her apartment. Recently having undergone surgery, the resident has been unable to escape. Rescue teams were dispatched to the scene and are currently devising methods of safely extracting her,” Powell said.
Daily News