Woman and baby missing as rivers in KZN swell

THE body of a 12-year-old boy was found yesterday and two people were missing following flooding on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast.

Spokesman for the province’s Emergency Medical Services, Robert McKenzie, said a 40-year-old woman and her 16-month-old granddaughter were trying to cross a low-lying bridge when they were swept into the Mafadobo River, near Harding, on Wednesday night.

It is understood they were returning from church.

The authorities were only alerted yesterday morning.

“We searched for several kilometres but there was no sign of them,” Mckenzie said.

He said the river was swollen and fast-flowing yesterday morning. The search for the pair was continuing.

The body of a 12-year-old boy who was swept away by floodwaters while trying to cross a river in the Msinisini area was found late yesterday afternoon.

A 10-year-old was rescued on an island in the river yesterday after he attempted to cross it.

A man on horseback was washed into the river in the same area on Wednesday night, but he managed to get to shore.

Parts of Newcastle were flooded and a number of families displaced after the Ncandu and Ngagane rivers burst their banks on Tuesday night.

On the North Coast, a bakkie was washed into the Tongaat River on Wednesday morning. The driver managed to escape from the vehicle.

An informal dwelling in KwaDukuza collapsed, leaving four people seriously injured on Tuesday night.

Following the heavy rainfall across the province this week, the Umgeni storage system is at 54.32% said the national Department of Water and Sanitation. Individual dam levels recorded are: Albert Falls (29.36%) Inanda ( 63.59%) Mearns (121.83%) Midmar (67.45%)