At least 78 people have died due to heavy rains and strong winds that battered South Africa’s Eastern Cape province. Rescue teams continue to recover bodies.
The worst-hit area is around the city of Mthatha, where a river burst its banks, submerging and toppling homes, especially makeshift dwellings.
Several children were among the bodies recovered, and six school students were confirmed dead from a school van swept away, with four still missing. Two other learners also died while walking to school.
More than 3,000 houses have been affected, displacing at least 600 people to community halls. Power, water supplies, infrastructure (roads, bridges), and at least 20 health facilities are damaged.
Initial rescue efforts were “paralysed” by a lack of resources, including only one provincial rescue helicopter and no specialist divers or K-9 units in the affected region.
Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa confirmed the death toll and highlighted the danger of living on floodplains.
President Cyril Ramaphosa called the floods “unprecedented” and plans to visit the disaster zone.
Rescue teams are conducting door-to-door searches, expecting to find more bodies and possibly survivors as water subsides.
Officials and experts point to climate change as a factor, increasing the frequency and severity of such events. There are calls to remove people from floodplains.
The Eastern Cape is one of South Africa’s poorest provinces, with a high percentage of residents living below the poverty line, exacerbating the disaster’s impact.
Forecasters had issued warnings about the extreme cold front, heavy rain, and snow before the floods.
More: ENCA, Associated Press
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