At least 448 people died in the Durban area affected by “the worst bad weather never seen”. President Cyril Ramaphosa declared the state of national disaster that must allow unlocking exceptional resources.
Le Monde with AFP
After being struck by deadly floods, South Africa began, Tuesday, April 19, to evaluate the destruction of a week of violent bad weather in the region of Durban, on the east coast.
At least 448 people were killed, according to a new report released in the evening, and the first economic estimates amount to several hundred million euros. “Five new bodies have been found today,” said the chief minister of the province, Sihle Zikalala. “The worst floods we have ever seen,” said the minister, earlier, in charge of disaster management, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
Diluvian rains and landslides have generated chaos in the agglomeration of the port city of 3.9 million inhabitants, epicenter of the disaster in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN): Lowing routes, collapsed bridges , Possible pipes. President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday the state of national disaster, which must allow unlocking exceptional resources.
Helicopters further fly over the city in search of dozens of people still missing. The influx of corpses has put the morgues under pressure.
The challenge of water
All day, ministers visited schools, health facilities and severely damaged infrastructure. “The main challenge is water,” said the Minister of Health, Joe Phaahla, coming out of a hospital where patients use buckets to wash and pull the flushes. Residents have been deprived of drinking water for eight days, 80% of the city’s network has been impacted. Nearly 4,000 houses have been shaved, more than 13,500 damaged. Tank trucks attempt to arrive with people but areas remain inaccessible. The authorities reported to restore electricity almost everywhere but the country is preyed for new loads, because of aging infrastructures.
Approximately 10,000 soldiers, including plumbers and electricians, are being deployed to lend a hand to restoration. Air support has been strengthened in particular to deliver goods. Troops have been sent to distribute tanks and install water purification systems.
“I do not understand why they waited so long before sending the army (…) What is the time now? to recover corpses?” Removal Olona Ngcobo, 26, who lost his house.
Some 270,000 students are not returned to class, more than 600 schools have been affected. At least 27 million euros will be needed nothing but to rebuild buildings, said the Minister of Education, Angie Meshekga, also on the spot.
“There must be absolute transparency”
The port of Durban, one of the main maritime terminals in Africa and the vault of economic activity in the country, is operational again. But between 8,000 and 9,000 containers are currently waiting to be unloaded. Important damage on the road connecting the port to the rest of the country and the continent prevented the daily passage of 13,000 goods trucks. Many companies have seen their equipment and sites destroyed.
The authorities thus provide for hundreds of millions of euros of damage. A first estimate for repairing road infrastructure is nearly 354 million euros. The government had already announced last week an Emergency Fund of 63 million euros for the region that has already experienced massive destruction in July during a unique wave of riots and looting.
Some people are already worried about misappropriation, in a country that has a long history of corruption: “there must be absolute transparency,” said Karam Singh, the Watch Corruption NGO.
South Africa, confronted with an unprecedented natural disaster, is generally spared by the bad weather that regularly fall on its neighbors such as Mozambique or Madagascar.