DURBAN - SEVERAL parts of KwaZulu-Natal, including Durban, Pietermaritzburg and Bulwer, experienced severe thunderstorms on Saturday that caused massive damage to houses and public infrastructure and left three children dead.
This prompted the KZN Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Department (Cogta) to issue an alert to the province’s residents, warning of inclement weather that poses danger.
The department said that in the Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma Local Municipality (Bulwer), a 10-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl were swept away while trying to cross a river in Ward 12 in an area called Bethlehem.
Ward councillor Vusi Mthembu said several houses had also been damaged by heavy rains.
“So far we have over 600 houses that have been damaged, with either roofs that were blown away or some that just collapsed. It came very unexpectedly,” said Mthembu.
He said they were still searching for the missing children.
“The police divers have been here since the morning, but the bodies have not been recovered. The community has been left shocked by this incident, especially because these kids were getting ready to return to school,” said Mthembu.
In the second incident in the same municipality, heavy rains and strong winds led to the structural collapse of a house in which Asemahle Ntuli died.
Department spokesperson Senzo Mzila said disaster management teams had responded to weather-related incidents that occurred following the severe thunderstorms that struck parts of the province on Saturday.
“Local disaster management teams have been dispatched to provide support to the affected families. We call upon residents to exercise extreme caution as the province continues to experience inclement weather conditions,” said Mzila.
He also called on residents who have been affected by the inclement weather to contact their respective leadership at ward level so that adequate support could be provided.
Mzila said disaster management teams were continuing to assess areas that had been affected by the storm.
Msunduzi Municipality spokesperson Ntobeko Mkhize said the municipality had responded to emergency calls that were received from different parts of the city, including in Imbali and Edendale townships.
“The disaster management teams have been deployed to conduct assessments and provide the necessary relief to the affected families.
“They have attended to three houses at Imbali Unit 14 where the roofs were blown off and houses were flooded,” he said.
Mkhize said there were instances where they were power outages as a result of the weather this week.
She added that trees fell and blocked roads in the Dambuza and Snathing areas.
“The other instances reported relate to power lines that came down, affecting Mkhondeni, Cleland, Mpumuza, Foxhill and surrounding areas.”
She added that as disaster teams were still conducting assessments, the municipality expected the number of affected residents to increase.
According to EThekwini Municipality, despite the heavy rains on Saturday, no incidents were reported.
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