Rescuers in South Africa search for the missing after floods leave at least 49 dead
The floods hit the province early Tuesday after an extreme cold front brought heavy rain, strong winds and snow to parts of eastern and southern South Africa. Forecasters had warned about the damaging weather last week.
Eastern Cape provincial government officials said they believed people were still missing but did not give an exact number. They were working with families to find out who was still unaccounted for, they said.
On Wednesday, rescue teams brought bodies out of the water in blue body bags, while witnesses said many people had taken refuge on the top of buildings or in trees.
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The floods centered on the town of Mthatha and its surrounding district, which is around 430 kilometers (267 miles) south of the east coast city of Durban.
Officials said at least 58 schools and 20 hospitals were damaged, while hundreds of families were left homeless after their houses were submerged under water or washed away by the floods. Critical infrastructure including roads and bridges has been badly damaged, Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane said.
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He said it was one of the worst weather-related disasters his province had experienced.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced he had activated the National Disaster Management Center to help local authorities in the Eastern Cape, while national officials were expected to visit the province on Thursday.
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Chicago Tribune
12 hours ago
- Chicago Tribune
At the US Open, golf's toughest test starts with 2 (or 3) of its longest days — in some cases nearly 6 hours
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Los Angeles Times
a day ago
- Los Angeles Times
South Africa's president visits flood sites with death toll at 78 and expected to climb
CAPE TOWN, South Africa — South Africa's leader visited the region where devastating floods have left at least 78 people dead in the southeast of the country as search and rescue operations continued Friday for a fourth day and authorities said they expected the death toll to rise. President Cyril Ramaphosa traveled to the town of Mthatha in Eastern Cape province, where the floods hit hardest when they began early Tuesday. Ramaphosa attended a briefing by officials from the National Disaster Management Center and also visited a bridge where a school bus was washed away by flooding. Six students, the bus driver and another adult onboard were confirmed dead, while four other schoolchildren were among the missing. Ramaphosa's visit came amid questions over authorities' response to the disaster, which was caused by an extreme weather front that brought heavy rain, strong winds and snow to parts of the province. Forecasters warned about the bad weather last week. The head of the provincial government said that the rescue effort was 'paralyzed' in the first few hours of the floods, because of a lack of resources like specialized search and rescue teams, divers and K-9 dog units in one of the country's poorest regions. Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane said that the province of 7.2 million people has just one official rescue helicopter, which had to be brought from another city more than 310 miles away. Ramaphosa defended the response and said that while the government was deeply distressed at the deaths, 'it could have been much worse.' The floods in the predawn hours caught many unaware, with victims washed away, along with parts of their houses and other debris, or trapped inside as water engulfed their homes. Authorities said that they expected more bodies to be recovered as rescue teams search the floodwaters and what is left of damaged houses and other structures to look for those still missing. Many children are among the dead. 'I need psychological help because I saw people dying in front of me. They were being dragged by the water along with the corrugated iron,' said Zinathi Vuso, a resident of Mthatha. 'Others tried to hold or climb onto something, but it would break and they ended up dead,' Vuso said. 'That is why you are seeing people still getting recovered and others are yet to be found.' Bodies were found by search and rescue teams more than a mile away from where the victims were believed to have been during the flooding. The rain had stopped and much of the floodwater was subsiding. Authorities were appealing for residents to report missing people so rescuers could get a better idea of how many people they were still looking for, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa, who led a national government team deployed to the province earlier in the week, said on national broadcaster SABC late Thursday. 'We are in a crisis. A real disaster,' Hlabisa said. 'The more water subsides, the more people will be found.' Some South African coastal areas are vulnerable to extreme weather blowing in from the Indian Ocean and Southern Ocean. More than 400 people died in flooding in and around the east coast city of Durban in 2022. Many victims of this week's floods in the Eastern Cape were living on flood plains near rivers. Poor areas with informal housing were the worst affected, government officials said. Imray writes for the Associated Press.
Miami Herald
a day ago
- Miami Herald
Floods kill 78 people in South Africa after record rainfall
Floods killed at least 78 people after record rainfall in South Africa's impoverished Eastern Cape province. On June 9, a winter storm dropped 129 millimeters (5.1 inches) of rain on the town of Mthatha, close to Nelson Mandela's burial site, nearly doubling the previous record, according to preliminary data from the South African Weather Service. Elliot weather station recorded 160 millimeters, about four times the previous high in 1997. The storm was part of a wider weather system that also brought snow to parts of the Eastern Cape and the neighboring KwaZulu-Natal province. The resulting floods proved deadly as houses near rivers were engulfed and vehicles swept off bridges. The floods are the latest in a series of adverse weather events to hit South Africa. Last year Cape Town had record rainfall in July and tens of thousands of homes were damaged. In 2022 at least 459 people died when torrential rains hit the port city of Durban. Even before the floods, large parts of South Africa - including regions in the Eastern Cape - had seen the wettest month on record through June 5, preliminary data from the University of California Santa Barbara's Climate Hazards Center show. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa changed his schedule on Friday to visit disaster-struck areas in the affected province, where much of the population lives in hard-to-access rural areas. Global warming is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, from violent storms and flooding to droughts and wild fires. Scientists have warned that an accelerated water cycle is locked into the world's climate system due to past and projected greenhouse gas emissions, and is now irreversible. Scientists say their existing models may have underestimated the extent to which global warming is causing extreme rainfall. The communities that tend to pay the highest price are often in poorer countries, where environments can be more fragile and governance more patchy, and there are fewer resources to bounce back after a disaster. Last year, the Spanish region of Valencia was struck by a catastrophic downpour that caused over 200 deaths and billions of dollars in insurance losses, while Hurricane Helene unleashed historic floods IN the U.S. Southeast, killing at least 166 people. Sign up here for the twice-weekly Next Africa newsletter, and subscribe to the Next Africa podcast on Apple, Spotify or anywhere you listen. Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
