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While Cape Town has been blessed with a final act of summer, the people of KwaZulu-Natal are experiencing a very different tale. The South African Weather Service (SAWS) issued a flooding warning on Friday and the rain hit hard over the weekend, continuing into this week. KZN has been battered.

Spokesperson for the eThekwini emergency service Robert McKenzie said: “Many of the highways are severely affected and waterlogged and many of the access routes are also severely affected. Rescue services and EMS have been responding to emergencies throughout the night, with multiple buildings collapsed and multiple people reportedly washed away by the rain.”

Speaking to friends and family from my hometown, the weather has caused utter devastation, writes Cape {town} Etc’s Robyn Simpson. Cars have been swept away, roads flooded, and homes and businesses destroyed. eNCA reported that at least ten people are missing and two people died in KwaMashu and Umlazi over the weekend.

“The water has nowhere to go, so levels are just rising, threatening to flood our ground floor through the kitchen. Thankfully, the drainage we commissioned when we built our home managed to keep the levels at bay. We have a few sink holes in the front garden and a log wall holding back a bank of soil is threatening collapse. Hopefully it will hold until it can be repaired. Nothing compared to the thousands of less fortunate whose RDP homes and shacks have completely washed away with their belongings. Our wildlife must be terrified,” says Sheila Sanders, Hillcrest.

This morning, I received word that a Westville family’s home collapsed last night, claiming the lives of the parents of two children. The children are allegedly in a nearby hospital with minor injuries.

Infrastructures โ€” from neighbourhood roads to major motorways, business buildings and homes โ€” have been no match for the severe conditions. “From the time it started raining yesterday morning to early hours of this morning, the rain has been relentless. It hasn’t given up, not even slightly. There has been heavy rainfall the entire time and in parts of the night, it only got worse,” says Shannon Blewitt from the Upper Highway Area.

The M4 Bridge over Tongaat River collapsing:

Picture: Facebook

Video footage of Brackenhill Road, Waterfall, highlights the extremity of the flooding:

Floating down the hill, near Durbanโ€™s old airport, footage of shipping containers meandering down the N2 has gone viral.

Spokesperson of the province’s Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Department Senzelwe Mzila said: “The provincial disaster management centre has activated support from the South African National Defence Force for them to provide aerial support where necessary. Disaster management teams have been evacuating people in areas where they have experienced mudslides, flooding and structural collapses of buildings and roads.”

Meanwhile, motorists have been warned against driving on wet roads (those that have not been closed, anyway โ€” both the N2 Highway and the R102 routes were closed around the Umbumbulu area, reports Traffic SA).

Between COVID-19, the recent looting catastrophe, and now, battering weather, the people of KwaZulu-Natal have had it rough. But if there’s anything we’ve come to learn about the Durbs communities, it’s that you are all resilient. Sending you strength and sunshine, all the way from Cape Town. We can’t wait to see you surfing (in the ocean) again, soon.

Surfing the fairways at Cotswold Downs:

More footage and pictures:

Also read:

A tribute to my home in ruins, KwaZulu-Natal

Picture: Viral footage

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