Durban — The KwaDukuza Local Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal has started taking stock of the impact of Saturday’s flash floods and will request that the municipality be declared a disaster area to trigger the required disaster financial support.
Mayor Lindile Nhaca said that at least 100mm of rainfall was measured in KwaDukuza on Saturday, January 13, by midnight.
Nhaca said that one person was killed and several others have been displaced.
On Sunday morning, Nhaca dispatched teams of experts in the built environment to recount the physical extent of the damages.
“I wish to extend my deepest condolences to the Malede family who lost their loved one during this ordeal on Saturday midnight. We are aware that there have been several others who were displaced but we are working on facilitating aid for these families,” Nhaca said.
“We are anxious, and indeed recounting the extent of the damages incurred. We are also calling upon communities to avoid low-lying bridges and areas that have been flooded to avoid more fatalities. These heavy rains have not only ravaged infrastructure but have disrupted municipal services and we wish to extend our apology to consumers and the KwaDukuza community at large.”
On restoring livelihoods and dignity, Nhaca said their teams have been out since Saturday night, rescuing families in life-threatening situations and they continue to make physical assessments and provide immediate relief.
She said there are efforts to restore electricity supply in the affected areas, clear public roads and unblock stormwater drains.
“We hope for a rapid recovery but obviously, this will require interventions of various organs of state and this will include Public Works, Transport and the Department of Education in the main as we look forward to reopening schools this week. We will push for a speedy reconstruction of affected roads and other infrastructure so the economy can move again,” Nhaca said.
She said that as part of the assessment exercise, they will be working closely with other professionals, ward councillors and other sector departments. This inclusive and integrated assessment process will be done to ensure that all affected areas, infrastructure, and communities are part of KwaDukuza Municipality’s disaster reports that will be required by the provincial and national governments.
“We will further request that the municipality be declared a disaster area in order to trigger the required disaster financial support,” Nhaca said.
“By virtue of being an affected municipality in the province, KwaDukuza is expected to compile its business plan which will be informed by the disaster assessment outcome that will be completed before the end of this week by Friday, January 19. The assessment report and business plan will then be submitted to the both Provincial Disaster Management Centre and the National Disaster Management Centre for consideration.”
Nhaca said that they can recount the following data on the huge damages experienced by various communities in the last twenty-four hours:
- Several roads and bridges have been severely damaged, most of them collapsed in totality.
- The stormwater system was exposed to heavy rainfall, making it inadequate and sufficient to manage the amount of water received.
- The electrical infrastructure had been compromised and most areas experienced outages which in some areas took over 12 hours to be restored. The municipality is receiving reports from various areas about outages leading from Saturday’s event.
- Most communities who live along floodplains and low-lying areas were the ones who were severely affected.
- Several private properties have been damaged by the subsequent flooding from both poor to the most affluent communities.
Addressing electricity outages, Nhaca said their electricity grid was hugely disrupted by the weather conditions.
The following areas were affected particularly in the north of KwaDukuza:
- Industrial substation - transformer 1 blown cable termination back-fed all consumers.
- Doesburg section off-line patrol is under way.
- Yellowwood Road cable fault contractor is at the site.
- Charlotsdale was off but most customers are back on.
- Gledhow south isolated blown jumper was repaired.
- High Ridge cable fault contractor is repairing.
- Farid Street cable fault contractor is repairing.
- Lot 16 burnt link Siya will repair.
- Groutville market single phasing artisan is dispatched.
“Please note we have a lot of single calls which might clear after we energise most areas,” Nhaca said.
On food security and aid, Nhaca said they have already started talks with various government departments to ensure that they too come on board to assist with humanitarian aid, this includes, access to medical care, documentation, and food security.
The municipality will share details on how to donate.
“We wish to thank our disaster management team for working into the night to ensure that our communities were assisted. We also wish to thank volunteers and all stakeholders who played a role in our course to ensure everyone’s safety.
“We further call our communities and residents to play their part in preventing flooding within their properties by ensuring that they clear their own stormwater pipe-lines, they prevent foreign objects including trash from entering the stormwater system, and that they take note of daily weather notices published in various government and media platforms,” Nhaca said.
WhatsApp your views on this story at 071 485 7995.
Daily News