Image copyright Reuters Image caption The rains have led to landslides destroying property and roads

Floods and mudslides in the South African city of Durban and the wider KwaZulu-Natal province have killed at least 60 people, officials say.

A six-month-old baby and a young child are among the dead.

More than 1,000 people have been displaced according to President Cyril Ramaphosa who has flown into the region to visit the affected areas.

Southern and eastern parts of the country have been badly hit by torrential rain in the last few days.

More flooding and strong winds are expected in coastal areas and a severe weather warning is still in place.

The raging floods damaged businesses, homes and at least two universities - while hundreds of people have been displaced.

Image caption People have been consoling each other as they look at the damage caused

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa has been visiting those who lost family members in the floods.

The BBC's Nomsa Maseko reports that the president laid a wreath at a place where seven died. He was also seen pushing away his bodyguards who tried to block people from talking to him.

Image copyright EPA Image caption President Cyril Ramaphosa called on the country to pull together in the wake of the disaster

"It was important to come and see what has happened. We pass our condolences to the families of those who have died in this disaster. We are saddened by what has happened here. The loss of life is never easy, especially when so unexpected," he said on the ground.

Earlier on Wednesday, he released a statement where he said: "This situation calls on all of us to pull together as a country to reach out to affected communities."

'We couldn't save the children'

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption South Africa floods: Father 'could hear children screaming'

One man, who lost eight of his family members when a mudslide swallowed their home, has spoken to Nomsa Maseko about the moments leading up to the tragedy.

Thamsanqa Dlamini said that he heard a loud bang first before water came "gushing" into their house through the walls.

"I heard my children screaming from the bedroom," he recalled.

"I tried to rush to help them but the strong water current forcefully pushed me into another room and I was under the collapsed wall.

"I remember hearing the screams of the children, neighbours tried to get us out but we couldn't save the children."

Meanwhile, provincial minister Nomusa Dube-Ncube told SAFM radio that officials are continuing to assess the damage, according to news agency AFP.

In the long term people may have to be moved from the affected areas, she added.

Dozens of people have been taken to hospital and search and rescue teams are looking for more survivors under the rubble of collapsed buildings.</s>Floods and mudslides in the South African city of Durban and the wider KwaZulu-Natal province have killed at least 60 people, officials say.

A six-month-old baby and a young child are among the dead.



More than 1,000 people have been displaced according to President Cyril Ramaphosa who has flown into the region to visit the affected areas.



Southern and eastern parts of the country have been badly hit by torrential rain in the last few days.



More flooding and strong winds are expected in coastal areas and a severe weather warning is still in place.





The raging floods damaged businesses, homes and at least two universities - while hundreds of people have been displaced.

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa has been visiting those who lost family members in the floods. 



The BBC's Nomsa Maseko reports that the president laid a wreath at a place where eight died. He was also seen pushing away his bodyguards who tried to block people from talking to him.

Read also: South Africa floods, mudslides kill at least 23

"It was important to come and see what has happened. We pass our condolences to the families of those who have died in this disaster. We are saddened by what has happened here. The loss of life is never easy, especially when so unexpected," he said on the ground.

Earlier on Wednesday, he released a statement where he said: "This situation calls on all of us to pull together as a country to reach out to affected communities."





Meanwhile, provincial minister Nomusa Dube-Ncube told SAFM radio that officials are continuing to assess the damage, according to news agency AFP. 



In the long term people may have to be moved from the affected areas, she added.



Dozens of people have been taken to hospital and search and rescue teams are looking for more survivors under the rubble of collapsed buildings.



Source: BBC</s>DURBAN, South Africa: The death toll from floods and mudslides that crushed homes in the South African port of Durban on Tuesday has risen to 33, with reports of children missing and scores of people displaced, authorities said.

"Heavy rains have since claimed 33 lives so far," Nomusa Dube-Ncube, a KwaZulu-Natal provincial minister said in a statement. Among those killed were a six-month-old baby and a child aged around 10.

She added that 10 children are missing in Durban and 42 people have been injured. An AFP photographer saw two of the nine bodies -- including that of a small child -- being pulled out of a house belonging to a school caretaker in Westcliff, a working class suburb on the outskirts of Durban. The victims were buried under a wall that had collapsed on them while they were sleeping.

At least 145 people have been displaced, the government said. A Hindu temple in the city was entirely flooded with water levels of up to 10 metres (33 feet), the photographer reported.

Heavy rains have lashed South Africa in recent days, with the southern and eastern parts of the country badly hit since the start of Easter weekend. "Last night the weather conditions worsened significantly," Dube-Ncube said.</s>JOHANNESBURG: The number of dead from floods and mudslides that crushed homes in the South African port of Durban early Tuesday has risen to 23, authorities said.

Among those killed were a six-month-old baby and a child aged around 10, they added.

"Last night the weather conditions worsened significantly ... in various parts of the province, claiming at least 23 lives," Nomusa Dube-Ncube, a KwaZulu-Natal provincial minister said during a televised news conference.

At least 32 people have been hospitalised. The victims were either crushed to death by mudslides or drowned in flood waters, Rescue Care spokesman Garrith Jamieson told AFP.

It was not known how many people were missing, but search and rescue operations combed the debris for those who might be trapped underneath.

In addition to collapsed buildings and flooded roads, sewer lines were blocked and electricity pylons had toppled over.

Torrential downpours have flooded southern and eastern parts of the country since the start of the Easter weekend.

South African military personnel have been dispatched to help rescue and evacuation efforts.

The South African Weather Services warned that more heavy rain and gale force winds were expected until Wednesday, which could threaten low-lying bridges and roads.</s>Devastating floods in South Africa have left at least 60 dead and forced more than a thousand people from their homes, officials said Wednesday as President Cyril Ramaphosa flew to the deluged region.

Heavy rains have lashed the southeast of the country, tearing down homes and ravaging infrastructure in KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape provinces.

Speaking to the affected Amanzimtoti community in Durban, after returning from emergency African Union talks in Egypt on the crises in Libya and Sudan, Ramaphosa said "there are more than 1,000 people who are now displaced."

 

 He raised concerns about Free State province north of KwaZulu-Natal, saying that continuing downpours there were causing "risky situations."

The government will set aside emergency funding to help survivors rebuild their lives, Ramaphosa vowed.

The government released an official death toll of 51 earlier on Wednesday, rising from 33 on Tuesday.

Rescuers on Wednesday continued to comb debris, desperately looking for people feared trapped by landslides.

For safety reasons, schools and some businesses were shut in the affected areas.

South African military personnel have been dispatched to help rescue and evacuation efforts.

The South African Weather Services warned that more heavy rain and gale force winds were expected, which could threaten low-lying bridges and roads.</s>The death toll from floods and mudslides that crushed homes in the South African port of Durban on Tuesday has risen to 33, with reports of children missing and scores of people displaced, authorities said.

"Heavy rains have since claimed 33 lives so far," Nomusa Dube-Ncube, a KwaZulu-Natal provincial minister said in a statement.

Among those killed were a six-month-old baby and a child aged around 10.

She added that 10 children are missing in Durban and 42 people have been injured.

An AFP photographer saw two of the nine bodies -- including that of a small child -- being pulled out of a house belonging to a school caretaker in Westcliff, a working class suburb on the outskirts of Durban.

The victims were buried under a wall that had collapsed on them while they were sleeping.

At least 145 people have been displaced, the government said.

A Hindu temple in the city was entirely flooded with water levels of up to 10 metres (33 feet), the photographer reported.

Heavy rains have lashed South Africa in recent days, with the southern and eastern parts of the country badly hit since the start of Easter weekend.

"Last night the weather conditions worsened significantly," Dube-Ncube said.

Government said dozens of incidents of collapsed walls and flooded homes were reported throughout the night, as roads were also flooded.

Those killed were either crushed to death by mudslides or drowned in flood waters, Rescue Care spokesman Garrith Jamieson told AFP.

Search and rescue operations have combed the debris for those who might be trapped underneath.

In addition to collapsed buildings and flooded roads, sewer lines were blocked and electricity pylons had toppled over.

South African military personnel have been dispatched to help rescue and evacuation efforts.

Government, political and religious groups were Tuesday handing out food parcels to the affected people.

The South African Weather Services warned that more heavy rain and gale force winds were expected until Wednesday, which could threaten low-lying bridges and roads.</s>CAPE TOWN — Flooding in eastern South Africa has killed at least 60 people, the authorities said on Wednesday, after torrential rains collapsed buildings, burst rivers and ripped sinkholes in roads.

Thousands more people were displaced, according to Lennox Mabaso, a government spokesman in KwaZulu-Natal Province, where the worst flooding occurred. Officials were providing urgent humanitarian support, he added, and had not yet fully quantified the damage from the storm.

About 10 inches of rain fell on the provincial capital, Durban, within 48 hours from Monday to Wednesday, according to the South African Weather Service, with even higher figures in surrounding areas.</s>CAPE TOWN, South Africa — Flooding in eastern South Africa has killed at least 60 people, authorities said Wednesday, after torrential rains collapsed buildings, burst rivers and ripped sinkholes in roads.

Thousands more people were displaced, according to Lennox Mabaso, a government spokesman in KwaZulu-Natal province, where the worst flooding occurred. Officials were providing urgent humanitarian support, he added, and had not yet fully quantified the damage from the storm.

About 10 inches of rain fell on the provincial capital, Durban, within 48 hours from Monday to Wednesday, according to the South African Weather Service, with even higher figures in surrounding areas.

Videos shared on Twitter showed homes crumbling in front of onlookers and cars strewn in gullies where entire roads had given way.

“It looks like a tornado has hit,” said Paul Herbst, a spokesman for IPSS Medical Rescue, a private ambulance service in the region. “Entire houses have been taken completely off their foundations and washed away. The flood and mud damage is absolutely extraordinary.”

Herbst, who grew up in the area, added: “We haven’t ever seen destruction like this.”

The South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, visited the province Wednesday, cutting short a trip to Cairo, where African Union leaders had been discussing upheavals in Sudan and Libya.

“People jumped into the mud, into flowing water, to save their children and loved ones,” he told reporters, commending the efforts of rescuers.

Some of the worst-hit areas in Durban were informal settlements, said Dr. Imtiaz Sooliman from Gift of the Givers, a local disaster-response nonprofit. Around 200 homes were washed away in an area known as Quarry Road, he said. In Umlazi, one of South Africa’s biggest townships, at least 500 people were displaced.

“People in informal settlements suddenly had rivers gushing next to them,” Sooliman said.

Forecasters said that the flooding was caused by a cutoff low pressure system, a type of storm often associated with severe weather.

Flooding was also reported in other parts of the country as the storm traveled eastward Tuesday. In Port St. Johns, a rural town in the Eastern Cape, the South African military sent troops to help with rescue and evacuations. Floods were also expected in drier regions farther north, authorities said.

On Wednesday, the provincial health minister in KwaZulu-Natal called on families to identity flood victims at mortuaries. The death toll was expected to rise as floodwaters subsided and more people were reported missing.

The floods came a few days after a separate storm caused a church to collapse in KwaZulu-Natal, killing 13 people. A memorial for those victims had been planned for Thursday, Mabaso, the government spokesman, said.</s>A non-profit organisation, Country Duty, has called for assistance for those affected by the recent floods in parts of KwaZulu-Natal including Durban and in the Eastern Cape, particularly Port St Johns on the Wild Coast.

The Country Duty team has released, through the organisation’s founder, lawyer Tumi Sole, both a list of nationwide drop off points and banking details for those wishing to assist victims of the flooding.

More detail is provided in the tweets below on where drop off points can be found. There are points in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Port Elizabeth, as well as in Durban and Port St Johns.

A list of items needed by those affected by the floods is also provided in the tweets below.

It was reported on Wednesday morning that the flood death toll from a severe storm that has lashed KwaZulu-Natal has risen to at least 51, according to the provincial government, though the number is set to climb as more bodies are still being recovered.

The province’s local government department said on Wednesday morning that five people were still unaccounted for.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has travelled to the province to visit affected areas.

A severe rainstorm hit the eThekwini (Durban) area on Monday night and continued into Tuesday, with devastation also being recorded on the South Coast.

Roads were flooded and washed away, traffic severely disrupted, numerous accidents were reported and several schools and businesses closed for safety reasons.

In Port St Johns, the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has been deployed to help with rescue and evacuation following severe flooding which has reportedly displaced hundreds of people, EWN reported on Wednesday morning.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.</s>At least 33 people are dead from flooding and mudslides in South Africa’s eastern KwaZulu-Natal province.

State broadcaster SABC on Tuesday quoted provincial authorities on the number of deaths.

The flooding has been caused by heavy rains that began on Monday.

The report said hundreds of homes in the Indian Ocean coastal city of Durban alone have been damaged.

Some people reportedly are wary of leaving their homes as waters rise because they fear they will be looted. – AP
Floods and mudslides in the South African city of Durban and the wider KwaZulu-Natal province have killed at least 60 people.