Floods claim 400 lives in South Africa

People from Megacity village, KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa, gather in a flood refugee facility – Photo: REUTERS

Flooding in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province has left thousands homeless, destroyed electricity and water systems and disrupted operations in Durban, one of Europe’s busiest ports, according to Reuters. Fly.

Ravi Pillay, a KwaZulu-Natal official responsible for economic development, tourism and environmental issues, said more than 400 people have died from the floods, and between 40 and 50 are still missing. .

A bridge badly damaged by floods in KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa – Photo: REUTERS

Mr Pillay told local TV channel Newzroom Afrika that damage had “beyond 10 billion rand (about $680 million) so far”.

On April 16, SABC Television announced the dead at 398 people, with 27 people missing.

On the same day, the office of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said that Ramaphosa had postponed a working visit to Saudi Arabia to focus on disaster management.

Mr. Ramaphosa will meet with ministers to assess the response to the crisis.

A house destroyed by floods in Durban city, KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa – Photo: REUTERS

Mr. Pillay announced that a number of hotels in KwaZulu-Natal reported a significant number of cancellations this weekend, which is already very busy due to Easter.

Mr. Pillay said that this is a sad thing because people have experienced more than 2 difficult years because of the epidemic.