10,000 soldiers in South Africa flood relief effort

A week after deadly storms started lashing South Africa’s east coast, the military said Monday 10,000 troops were on the ground to assist restore key offerings and aid the search for 63 folks that stay lacking.

The demise toll stands at 443, but with every passing day, hopes decrease of finding more survivors.

“The tragedy currently unfolding in our province is one of the worst natural disasters in the recorded history of our country,” KwaZulu-Natal provincial government said.

Funerals were being held across the city of Durban, which bore the brunt of the storms, as grim tales of the catastrophe continued to emerge.

One woman was found dead with her three grandchildren after their car was washed away, while rescuers reported finding bodies washed into dams, local media reported.

Swathes of eThekwini, the municipality that includes Durban, remain without power or water, and the province said it could take time before services are restored.

“There are areas that have suffered extensive damage which will take longer to repair,” it said in a statement.

Many streets remain slathered with mud, although the main roads have been cleared enough to allow water tankers to the hardest-hit areas.

But eThekwini deputy mayor Philani Mavundla said in a television interview that 80 percent of the city’s waterworks were down, making it difficult to even fill the tankers.

Some of the troops include plumbers and electricians who joined the mammoth task of trying to get life back to normal.

Soldiers are also providing field accommodation and water purification systems, the army said.

The deadliest storm on record dumped apocalyptic levels of rain on Durban and surrounding areas of KwaZulu-Natal.

Some 40,000 people were left homeless and more than 550 schools and nearly 60 health care facilities have been damaged, according to government tallies.

South Africa is winding down a long weekend for the Easter holidays. Many children are due to return to school on Tuesday, but authorities warned that 271,000 students may not be able to attend due to damaged schools.

The government has announced an immediate one billion rand ($68 million) in emergency relief.

Nearly three dozen search teams were deployed across the region Monday, said coordinator Dave Steyn.

“The rescue operations have stopped. It’s now more of a search and recovery,” he told AFP.

Blue skies finally reappeared Monday, giving hope that the rains have at last subsided.

But the normally azure waters at Durban’s famed seashores grew to become a muddy brown by way of the mountains of earth and particles washed to the shore.

The depth of the floods took South Africa, the maximum economically advanced African country, by means of wonder.

While the southeastern vicinity has suffered some flooding earlier, the devastation has by no means been so excessive. South Africans have formerly watched similar tragedies hit neighboring nations including cyclone-prone Mozambique.

The USA continues to be struggling to get over the Covid pandemic and deadly riots closing year that killed more than 350 humans, usually inside the now flood-struck southeastern area.