South Africa | Respite and calls to prayer after the tragic floods

(Durban) Nearly rainless skies on Sunday finally seemed to offer respite to South Africa, whose east coast was hit by floods that claimed 400 lives and left tens of thousands homeless, calls for prayer multiplying for Easter.

Most of the victims were recorded in the Durban region, a port city in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) open to the Indian Ocean, where heavy rains have been falling for a week, causing floods and deadly landslides.

In the morning it was still raining in some places but nothing compared to the past few days. “The risk of flooding is low in KwaZulu-Natal today,” forecaster Puseletso Mofokeng of the National Institute of Meteorology told AFP. “The precipitation will dissipate completely by Wednesday and through the end of next week.”

In recent days, ministers, traditional leaders, Zulu King Misuzulu Zulu and President Cyril Ramaphosa have been on the ground to assess the extent of the damage and support those in mourning.

Families have been decimated, losing several members in a matter of seconds. Children and babies have died, drowned or buried in mudslides. People are still missing.

” Almighty God ”

“We send our sincere condolences to the families who have lost loved ones. May the almighty Lord God wipe away your tears,” said Deputy Minister of Social Affairs Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu, who visited the scene.

Calls to prayer multiplied during religious gatherings on this Easter Sunday.

Nearly 340 social service representatives have been deployed to provide psychological support in the impacted areas.

Food vouchers, school uniforms and blankets continue to be distributed. More than 250 schools were damaged. Nearly 4,000 houses razed, more than 13,500 damaged.

The poorest in the townships have been hit hard by the weather. Houses made of sheets of corrugated iron or simple planks of wood, often built on unbuildable and flood-prone land, did not last long in the deluge.

In some parts of the province, water and electricity have been cut since Monday. Desperate residents were seen carrying buckets of water on carts by the side of the road. The food is missing, what was left rotted.

Donations are collected across the country, especially in fire stations. Pasta, preserves, covers. Emergency government aid of 63 million euros (one billion rand) has been announced.

Roads and bridges cut slow relief. Rescue operations continue, but a week after the start of the disaster, the hope of finding survivors is slim. The work of rescuers now mostly consists of recovering bodies.

Many hospitals, heavily used for the wounded, have been damaged and are not operating at full capacity.

Authorities expect hundreds of millions of dollars in damages. The region had already experienced massive destruction in July during an unprecedented wave of riots and looting.

Every year, the hurricane season from November to April unleashes storms in southern Africa. Countries like Madagascar or Mozambique are regularly hit by deadly storms. But South Africa is generally spared.