By TOM CHIAHEMEN, Johannesburg –
Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari, said today he was “saddened and unspeakably devastated” by the flood disasters in Kwazulu Natal Province of South Africa that have so far claimed 341 lives.
Heavy rains and flooding have killed at least 341 people in South Africa’s eastern KwaZulu-Natal province, including the city of Durban, and more rainstorms are forecast in the coming days, according to agency reports.
Officials said yesterday that the death toll was expected to rise as scores of people, including whole families, were missing.
The persistent rains have wreaked havoc in the province, destroying homes, collapsing buildings and washing away major roads.
The damage to Durban and the surrounding eThekwini metropolitan area is estimated at $52 million, eThekwini Mayor Mxolosi Kaunda said Thursday.
Reacting to the calamity on Friday in Abuja, President said through his media aide, Garba Shehu, “I’m greatly shocked by this large-scale natural disaster which has caused widespread sufferings and fatalities in our sister country.”
He explained that “the disruption of water and electricity supply, as well as the destruction of homes, makes this natural disaster one of the worst in our recent memory.”
While extending his sympathy to the government and people of South Africa, President Buhari urged other African leaders “to work together towards developing common and effective strategies for improving our emergency management response systems that will help us significantly reduce the human and economic impacts of natural disasters and impending climate change.”
At least 120 schools have been flooded, causing damage estimated at more than $26 million and bringing officials to temporarily close all schools in the province. This is just as no fewer than 18 students and one teacher from various schools have died in the floods, Education Minister Angie Motshekga said.
“This is a catastrophe and the damage is unprecedented. What is even more worrying is that more rain is expected in the same areas that are already affected,” Motshekga said in a statement issued Thursday.
Police used stun grenades to disperse residents in the Reservoir Hills areas of Durban who were protesting what they said was the lack of official assistance, according to South African media reports.
The South African National Defense Force has deployed troops to assist with rescue and mop-up operations.
The floods have knocked out water and electricity to large parts of Durban and the surrounding eThekwini metropolitan area and it will take at least a week to restore those services, according to officials.
President Cyril Ramaphosa visited is convening an emergency Cabinet meeting to declare the floods a national disaster so that funds can be released to help repair the damage. He visited several areas hit by the floods and mudslides on Wednesday.
Fourteen crocodiles that were swept away from a farm in the Tongaat area north of Durban have been recaptured, according to wildlife officials.
(With additional report by AP)
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