Torrential rain left a trail of destruction in the coastal city of Durban — the latest disaster in a season of storms that some scientists say has been intensified by climate change.
Days of heavy rain on the eastern coast of South Africa left at least 45 people dead when rivers burst their banks and mudslides swept through the city of Durban and the surrounding area. The death toll is expected to rise as members of the South African National Defense Force were called in to assist emergency rescue teams in the KwaZulu-Natal province, government officials said Tuesday. Along the coast, vacation homes and shacks alike were swept away in a part of the country known as a getaway for its sun, beaches and warm temperatures. “We were all surprised by the magnitude of this storm,” Mxolisi Kaunda, the mayor of Durban, said in a news briefing. Storms have already caused devastation in several countries in the Southern African region this year, displacing thousands of people and leaving dozens dead. Some scientists attributed the destruction in part to a storm season intensified by rising global temperatures. The island nation of Madagascar has been worst affected, hit by a cyclone and four tropical storms that left at least 178 people dead during February and March. But the storms, originating in the southern Indian Ocean, pummeled the mainland as well. Thousands were displaced along Mozambique’s coastline, with flooding reaching as far inland as landlocked Malawi and Zimbabwe. South Africa’s eastern KwaZulu-Natal province also saw heavy rain and flooding in February. On Tuesday, a new storm left much of the city of Durban flooded. Footage from emergency services showed parts of a national highway resembling a river, with shipping containers dislodged and washed away.
