Flooding devastates province
Dozens of families have been left homeless and many roads and bridges in Pietermaritzburg were turned into raging rivers as heavy rain wreaked havoc across the province this week. Residents have been urged to take caution as severe weather left a trail of destruction. When Capital Newspapers visited affected areas, people were picking up the pieces, while others didn’t even know where to start.
Cecilia Ngubane (66) from Caluza, whose mud house collapsed, has appealed for any kind of assistance. “I took a blanket and placed it on the mud floor and slept there since the bed was already wet. I don’t know what to do since I have nowhere to go, and I make a living through pension money. I have lost my mind and I appeal to anyone for assistance.”
Smiso Mthembu from Mpumuza, who is blind and wheelchair-bound, said they fear for their lives since their RDP houses can collapse anytime in this weather. “The water comes from underground. The position of the house has shifted. We are scared that it could collapse on top of us, but the problem we have is that we have nowhere else to go. I can’t even go outside to the toilet; I am using a bucket to relieve myself,” said Mthembu.
Nelisiwe Mncube from Dambuza said they have covered their mud house, which collapsed on Monday night, with roof sheets. “This is a six-bedroom house and the room that collapsed belongs to my brother. Luckily, he was not around when it collapsed. It is hard to sleep at night since you don’t know when the house is going to collapse,” said Mncube.
While other areas in the province, such as Durban and Ladysmith, have borne the brunt of the devastation, the heavy rains and flooding has caused multiple closures of city roads and bridges in Pietermaritzburg and surrounding areas.
The floods also caused disruptions to city schools' academic programmes yesterday with many schools either experiencing low attendance, or having to close due to electricity and water outages caused by the flooding.
Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High School was forced to close yesterday due to a power outage caused by the inclement weather. The principal of Orient Heights Primary School, Peru Govender, said the school stayed open yesterday, but there was low attendance as some of the learners’ homes had been damaged by the heavy downpour.
Raisethorpe Secondary School principal P T Gounden said the school also experienced poor attendance, and water outages. “There has been poor attendance, due to the weather and anxiety over the flooding. Our academic programme has been disrupted due to the amount of absentees. We also did not have water, but we have a Jojo tank as back up. School will resume as normal on Wednesday,” Gounden said.
On Tuesday, the level eight storm warning from the South African Weather Service warned of continued significant rainfall in many parts of the province, including Msunduzi, which increases the risk of worsened flooding in the affected areas. Motorists have also been urged to avoid using low-lying bridges and attempting to cross flooded roads, amid reports of drownings and cars being washed away. As of Tuesday afternoon the death toll of flood-related fatalities in the province was sitting at 45, with increased pressure calls for the premier to call for a national state of disaster to be declared in the province.