<\/p>\n

– Water problem –<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Swathes of eThekwini, the municipality that includes Durban, remain without electricity or water. Local government estimated that 80 percent of the city’s waterworks were down.<\/p>\n

Water tankers were being deployed across the region, but the authorities were struggling to fill them.<\/p>\n

Some of the troops include plumbers and electricians, joining the mammoth task of trying to get life back to normal.<\/p>\n

Many streets remain slathered with mud. In areas where repair crews have yet to reach, the homeless cleared roads to make way for water tankers to pass, an AFP correspondent observed.<\/p>\n

Residents complained the water tankers came unannounced, with little discipline as families raced to fill receptacles.<\/p>\n

“There is also a lot of pushing there. People are desperate — they don’t care about the next person,” said Philakahle Khumalo, a 30-year-old mother of two.<\/p>\n

The deadliest storm on record dumped apocalyptic levels of rain on Durban and the surrounding area.<\/p>\n

Some 40,000 people were left homeless and more than 600 schools and 66 health care facilities have been damaged, Ramaphosa said.<\/p>\n

Many children are due to return to class on Tuesday after the Easter break, but authorities warned that 271,000 students may not be able to attend due to damaged schools.<\/p>\n

The government has announced an immediate one billion rand ($68 million) in emergency relief.<\/p>\n

Nearly three dozen search teams were deployed across the region Monday, said coordinator Dave Steyn.<\/p>\n

“The rescue operations have stopped. It’s now more of a search and recovery,” he told AFP.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

– Shock –<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

The normally azure waters at Durban’s famed beaches have been turned a muddy brown by the mountains of earth and debris washed to the shore.<\/p>\n

The intensity of the floods took South Africa, the most advanced African economy, by surprise.<\/p>\n

The country is still struggling to recover from the Covid pandemic and deadly riots last year that killed more than 350 people, mostly in the now flood-struck southeastern region.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday declared a national state of disaster over the deadly floods on the east coast, warning that rebuilding even basic services will take time.   “This is a humanitarian disaster that calls for a massive and urgent relief effort,” he said in a televised address. “The lives, health and well-being of thousands of people are still at risk.” “The Port of Durban — which is one of the largest and busiest shipping terminals on the continent and which is vital to our country’s economy — has been severely affected,” he said. At least 443 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40961,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567,562],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-video","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international-news","category-yeswecantv-news","post_format-post-format-video"],"yoast_head":"\n