floods kill at least 59 in the east of the country

Floods in South Africa killed at least 59 people on Tuesday, April 12, after several days of heavy rain on the country’s east coast. Forty-five people were killed in the metropolis of Durban, the region’s largest city, and “At least 14 people were killed” in the neighboring iLembe district, provincial authorities said in a statement. For his part, President Cyril Ramaphosa regretted: “a tragic toll” and announced in a press release that he will be there on Wednesday.

And authorities fear the ravages of new bad weather announced for the night. new rains “extreme” are scheduled for the night from Tuesday to Wednesday in the province of Kwazulu-Natal (East), accompanied by“major floods”, the South African meteorological services warned. Residents are asked to avoid any movement.

Rescue operations continued throughout the day, particularly in Durban, one of the main African ports open to the Indian Ocean. The army was deployed to provide air support during the evacuations. Collapsed bridges, ruined roads, residents and schoolchildren remained prisoners of the rising water for hours. At least 140 schools have been affected.

More than 2,000 homes and about 4,000 informal homes have been damaged, according to the provincial government. “It’s a nightmare, lots of mudslides, casualties, collapsed buildings”AFP said a member of the rescue teams, Garrith Jamieson.