Durban – At least 53 areas in the eThekwini Municipality have reported power outages after the second floods to hit the province since the start of the year.
The municipality reported a list of areas without power on its social media sites but comments from residents around the city suggest that the number may increase as assessments continue.
“Please note that we are aware of outages affecting the following areas and our technicians are working on restoring power,” the city said.
The listed areas stretched from the North Coast to the South Coast of KZN.
Residents north of Durban were among the hardest hit during the weekend’s flooding, as blocks of flats, houses and informal settlements were washed away during mudslides.
According to the South African Weather Service, coastal towns were the most affected areas, with the situation warranting a level 10 warning.
Umdloti was once again ravaged by the heavy rains on Saturday and Sunday.
Residents in the northern parts of Durban had to evacuate their homes, including KZN Premier Sihle Zikalala. The premier lives in La Mercy.
“I worked till late midnight on evacuations of people from floods. Later I found that I had to be evacuated as all roads had been washed away,” Zikalala said.
Community halls were used to house displaced residents.
Many residents around the city who were affected during last month’s floods, which claimed 445 lives, were still living in community halls at the time of this weekend’s flooding.
The M4 Ruth First Highway was also damaged, with parts of it washing away in La Mercy.
“A number of roads and bridges in eThekwini, especially Umdloti, La Mercy and others, have been affected and we urge road users to be on the alert and to stay at home if possible,” the provincial government said.
IOL