DURBAN – Hibberdene residents are counting the costs of the damage caused by the heavy rains that battered the South Coast.
The rains started on Monday.
Some residents were unable to go to work on Tuesday following rains that led to bridges overflowing and in some cases, houses flooding. This left some of the residents fearing for their lives.
“My neighbour has had it worse compared to me because her house was simply filled with water, household items including furniture have been damaged by the rain,” said a resident of Mfazazana, near Hibberdene, on Tuesday.
The resident declined to be named.
She told The Mercury that they had only managed to start cleaning up from midday when the rain had eased.
“In the morning, it was still raining and that is why I could not go to work. I didn’t want to get washed away while trying to cross the KwaFica bridge because it was overflowing,” she added.
According to Ugu District’s Disaster Management Centre, they were still tallying up the numbers to determine the number of affected households.
In Port Shepstone yesterday, the entrance to the CBD was flooded following the rain while Port Shepstone High School was also flooded.
KWAZULU-Natal MEC for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Sipho Hlomuka has placed disaster management teams on high alert and warned residents to be vigilant as the province braces for bad weather this week.
In a statement yesterday, Hlomuka urged residents to exercise extreme caution after the weather warning was issued by the South African Weather Service (Saws).
Cogta warned that KwaZulu-Natal would experience inclement weather conditions which would continue until Friday.
The MEC said these weather conditions were expected to bring significant snowfall over the Drakensberg mountain range and the surrounding areas, including Kokstad and Underberg.
Saws forecaster Wiseman Dlamini said there were unconfirmed reports of snow over Kokstad yesterday.
“Snow is expected over the KZN Drakensberg from tonight (Tuesday) and expected to last until Thursday,” he said.
Hlomuka said this could potentially lead to road closures and the risk of motorists being stranded.
“Disaster management teams are on alert across the province and will be monitoring all major routes and areas that are prone to flooding,” said the MEC.
In a statement yesterday, Saws said that between 10cm to 15cm of snow was expected to fall over the Lesotho region.
Sani Pass could be temporarily closed because of snowfall, advised Saws.
The MEC called on residents to keep a close eye on the weather conditions.
“We are appealing to all communities in the areas that are expected to receive significant snowfall to be vigilant and to postpone any unnecessary trips,” he urged.
Dlamini said temperatures were expected to drop significantly today, especially over the extreme western parts of KZN in the Harry Gwala, uMgungundlovu and uThukela district municipalities.
In Durban, Dlamini said, cool temperatures were expected with a maximum temperature of 20ºC today.
He said a 60% chance of showers was expected over Durban and surrounding areas today and tomorrow.
“Weather is expected to improve from Friday where a 30% chance of rain is expected along the coast and adjacent interior,” said Dlamini.
Dlamini added that south-westerly winds of between 30-50km per hour were expected until Friday afternoon.
THE MERCURY