EThekwini disaster plan ‘a disaster’

THE eThekwini Municipality’s disaster management strategy has come under scrutiny after the city failed to issue any warnings prior to the storms that lashed Durban and surrounds on Tuesday.

Bobby Peek of groundWork lambasted the city’s response to the disaster, saying it was just not good enough.

“The city knew what was coming and they should have sent a statement the day before, telling everyone to stay at home. Many cities globally, including Cape Town, have done this before. People’s lives could have been saved,” he said.

Peek said it was clear that the city did not have any sound emergency warning and emergency planning systems.

The first warning issued by the city was at 10am, when the storm had already started.

Mayoral spokesperson Mthunzi Gumede said the city did have early warning systems.

“Once we receive warnings, we issue them to internal stakeholders so that all our systems are ready for any eventuality.”

However, he said the city is careful when issuing warnings to the public as it did not want to cause panic. The SA Weather Service said the storm had been foretold by forecasters and warnings had been issued as early as Sunday.

Wisani Maluleke, a forecaster at the service, said these were sent to provincial disaster management and municipalities.

“We first send a watch (message) that means disaster management teams should be ready. Then the next step is to send warnings, which means disaster management teams have to act,” he said.

The warnings from the weather service had stated that “heavy rains and severe thunderstorm activity” were to be expected.

Maluleke said heavy rainfall was classified as more than 50ml within 24 hours.

On Tuesday, Durban recorded a rainfall of 108 millilitres, he said, adding that it “is not something you see every year”.

Maluleke said stormwater drainage had contributed to flooding.

Mayor Zandile Gumede said the city drainage system was being enlarged, particularly in the inner city. She said volunteers were busy with stream clean-ups.

The city had also embarked on an education campaign against littering in the drains, she said.

Human settlements MEC Ravi Pillay said the government would need to look at things such as the stormwater management plan.

Phenomenal

“Although the issue of clearance and maintenance of stormwater was correctly raised, that sheer volume can’t be taken by the pipes.

“What we will need to do is identify those areas that had phenomenal flooding and look at the stormwater management plan,” Pillay said.

Insurance companies were inundated with calls from clients in the aftermath of the storm. Outsurance said it had received more than 1 000 claims from Durban.

“The damage is spread across cars, contents, and the majority is damage to buildings. We extended our business hours until 8pm this evening for our claims department,” said Natasha Kawulesar, the head of client relations at Outsurance

Santam’s executive head of claims and group sourcing, Ebrahim Asmal, said the company’s claims and emergency helpline was inundated with calls yesterday.

“The severity and geographical spread of these events have placed some pressure on our claims team, and we are prioritising emergencies,” Asmal said.

He said the company was processing a “significant” number of claims.