KwaZulu-Natal on high alert for disruptive rain and flooding

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KwaZulu-Natal has been placed on high alert following a warning from the South African Weather Service of disruptive rains for Thursday and Friday that could lead to flooding in low-lying areas.

The alerts come as the City of eThekwini, in particular, is still contending with the aftermath of the devastating floods of April last year, which left infrastructure severely damaged — the result of between 200 millimetres and 400 millimetres of rain falling within a 24-hour period. 

The April downpours lead to flooding, mudslides, washing away of bridges, collapse of buildings and roads and claimed more than 400 lives. Over 40 000 people were displaced.

This week, a forecast of “over 200mm” of rain was made by the weather service for eThekwini alone, but this was revised down to about 34mm on Thursday.  

Level five and nine alerts were issued for parts of the province, meaning the risk of disruption and probability of flooding is high. 

Weather forecaster Lehlohonolo Thobela said a level five warning denoted a “significant” impact from disruptive rain, while level nine was classed as “severe”.   

“There are areas that have not recovered from the devastation of the April floods. There are still some roads that are under construction as a result of [that flooding] and now these heavy rains are coming in that might destroy what they are trying to fix. So the [scale of the] impact won’t be the same, but similar to what took place during the April floods,” said Thobela. 

The province’s cooperative governance MEC, Sihle Zikalala, said in a statement that he had placed disaster management teams on high alert following the weather service’s warning. 

Level nine weather warnings are effective for eThekwini, Ilembe, Umgungundlovu, King Cetshwayo, and uMkhanyakude. Level five warning are effective for Uthukela, uMzinyathi, Zululand, Harry Gwala, Amajuba, Ugu, and parts of Umgungundlovu.

The Eastern Cape is also on alert, with that province expecting 30mm of rain, said Thobela. 

The KwaZulu-Natal Disaster Management Centre has activated the Joint Operations Committee, which will meet daily with all disaster management teams from municipalities to take stock of the situation, said Zikalala. 

He urged residents to restrict unnecessary travel, be vigilant and know the whereabouts of their children — discouraging them from swimming in rivers or large bodies of water. 

According to the department of water and sanitation, KwaZulu-Natal’s water storage is at 87.6%, while five dams administered by Umgeni Water are at 104.4% capacity.