South African president to visit flood sites with death toll at 78 and expected to climb
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will visit the sites Friday of devastating floods that have left at least 78 people dead in the southeast of the country as search and rescue operations continue for a fourth day and authorities say they expect the death toll to rise.
Ramaphosa's office said he will travel to the town of Mthatha in Eastern Cape province, where
the floods hit hardest
when they began in the early hours of Tuesday.
Ramaphosa's visit will come amid criticism of authorities' early response to the disaster, which was caused by
an extreme weather front
that brought heavy rain, strong winds and even snow to parts of the province. Forecasters warned about the extreme weather last week.
The head of the provincial government said the rescue effort was 'paralyzed' in the first few hours after 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 the province of 7.2 million people has just one official rescue helicopter, which had to be brought from another city more than 500 kilometers (310 miles) away.
The floods in the predawn hours caught many unaware, with
victims washed away
along with parts of their houses and other debris. Authorities said they expected more bodies to be recovered as rescue teams search the floodwater 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. That is why you are seeing people still getting recovered and others are yet to be found.'
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 that 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.
'We are in a crisis. A real disaster,' Hlabisa said. 'The more water subsides, the more people will be found.'
___
AP Africa news:
https://apnews.com/hub/africa
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Chicago Tribune
an hour 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
OAKMONT, Pa. — Thriston Lawrence walked onto the 10th tee box at 2:20 p.m. to begin his second round at the U.S. Open with his name near the top of the front page of the leaderboard. Nearly six hours and 73 shots later, the South African's name wasn't so high. And his round still wasn't quite over. Welcome to Oakmont, where one of golf's toughest tests began with two — or three in the case of Lawrence and a handful of others still on the course when play was suspended at around 8:15 p.m. as a storm passed through — of the sport's longest days. Lawrence was standing over a 4-foot par putt in the middle of a downpour for a 4-over 74 when the horn blew, 5 hours, 55 minutes after his scheduled tee time. He turned to ask an official if he could putt out. When the answer came back 'no,' he marked his ball and hustled with umbrella in hand to the clubhouse. 'Overall, I played nicely, but frustrating day because it felt like we were out there for seven hours,' Lawrence said. Close enough. While the late dash of weather didn't help, the pace at the sprawling par-70 layout carved into a hilly slice of Western Pennsylvania so big it's divided by an interstate spared no one. Not world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who admitted it 'it felt long to me,' after taking 5½ hours to put together a 1-over 71 on Friday morning that left him 4 over for the tournament, seven shots behind leader Sam Burns. Not first-round leader J.J. Spaun, who needed nearly 5 hours, 40 minutes to finish up a 72 that put him in the final group with Burns on Saturday. Yet Scheffler didn't find himself checking his watch too often, not even during waits that stretched to 15 minutes or more between shots. 'I've got too many concerns other than the pace it takes to get around this place,' he said with a shrug. By comparison, Scheffler and playing partners Viktor Hovland and Collin Morikawa might have gotten off easy. It took Lawrence's group well over an hour to get through three holes, thanks to a logjam on the tee at the par-5 12th. Players were frequently forced to wait 20 minutes or more to hit their tee shot while members of the group ahead of them either waited for the green to clear in hopes of reaching it in two shots or wandered through the 5-inch-plus rough in hopes of finding their ball. (Hardly a given). Unless you stick it close (and you probably won't), there's no chance at making up times on greens so fast and so frustrating that Edward S. Stimpson invented his now-eponymous and ubiquitous tool to measure their actual speed. Even seemingly innocuous approach shots aren't immune, as qualifier Will Chandler found out Friday in the second round when his wedge into the par-4 second hole landed a few paces from the back of the green, then hit reverse and kept rolling for 40 seconds before settling back in the fairway. Part of the issue at Oakmont is the combination of the layout — where players literally have to cross a bridge over an interstate to get from the first green to the second tee, and again while going from the eighth green to the ninth tee — and the decisions the course forces you to make. There's typically a backup at the par-4 17th, for example, because at around 300 yards (albeit uphill ones) it's drivable, meaning the group on the green typically has to putt out before the group behind them can go. Throw in the stakes — the lure of golf immortality (or at the very least, a healthy paycheck for making the cut) for the pros and the walk of a lifetime for amateurs like dentist turned qualifier Matt Vogt — and yeah, things can drag on a bit. Hovland's second trip through Oakmont was an adventure. His 1-under 69 included only eight pars. There was an eagle thanks to a pitch-in on 17, five birdies, three bogeys and a double. During a regular tour event, when scores are lower and the pace is a far more palatable five hours or less, Hovland isn't sure he would have been able to keep things from spiraling out of control after the second, when a poor drive into the right rough was followed by a mangled pitch into a bunker and eventually a double bogey that threatened to rob him of the momentum he'd build over his first 10 holes. 'If it would have happened at another tournament, for example, I could have potentially lost my mind there a little bit,' he said. 'But I felt like I kept things together very well.' The fact Hovland had time to let his frustration melt away before his driver on the third tee may have helped. The 27-year-old Norwegian knows his game well enough to know that he tends to speed things up when a round threatens to go sideways, and not in a good way. There was no chance of that Friday. 'Yeah, you might have had a bad hole on the last hole and then you're sitting on the tee box for 10-20 minutes,' he said. 'At least it gives you a good opportunity to get that out of your system and reset and think about the next shot.' Maybe the rhythm of the day will feel more like normal on Saturday, when the field goes out in pairs instead of threesomes. Or maybe not. Considering the lure of history, he's not going to complain. 'Honestly, we play pretty slow on Tour anyway,' he said with a smile. 'So what's another 40 minutes to go around Oakmont.'
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival Canceled Due to Weather
The Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival has been canceled due to severe weather concerns. The festival announced the news in a Friday Instagram post after issuing a series of weather delays and an evacuation notice earlier in the day. Thursday marked the first official day of the event at the Bonnaroo Farm in Manchester, Tennessee, that was set to last through Sunday, with only one of the four headliners, Luke Combs, delivering a performance before the event was canceled. More from The Hollywood Reporter K-pop Stars Enhypen on 'Desire : Unleash,' Coachella Debut and What to Expect on Their U.S. Tour Kanye "Ye" West Makes Brief Appearance at Sean "Diddy" Combs Trial Hollywood's Top Marketers of 2025 'Today, the National Weather Service provided us with an updated forecast with significant and steady precipitation that will produce deteriorating camping and egress conditions in the coming days,' Bonnaroo wrote in their post. 'We are beyond gutted, but we must make the safest decision and cancel the remainder of Bonnaroo.' Bonnaroo, too, revealed that they would be issuing refunds to all 1-Day Friday, Saturday and Sunday admission tickets purchased via Front Gate Tickets, though those who purchased 4-day admission tickets and camping accommodations via the ticketing service will only receive a 75% refund. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Bonnaroo (@bonnaroo) Alongside Combs, Tyler, the Creator, Olivia Rodrigo and Hozier were set to headline Bonnaroo, though those performances have been called off. Additional slated performers included Vampire Weekend, GloRilla, Tyla, Raye, Avril Lavigne, Queens of the Stone Age, John Summit, Justice, Dom Dolla, Glass Animals and The Red Clay Strays. 'The number one thing we need from the Bonnaroo community is patience. Some of your fellow campers' sites are in rough shape,' they added in their statement. 'The rain has settled in areas and made certain parts of Outeroo difficult to manage. We'd like to prioritize getting those folks as well as those with accessibility needs off The Farm as soon as possible this evening.' 'We have put our hearts and souls into making this weekend the most special one of the year, and cannot express how crushed we are to have made this decision,' the statement concluded. 'Thank you in advance for your patience, your positivity and your unfailing Bonnaroovian spirit.' Best of The Hollywood Reporter Most Anticipated Concert Tours of 2025: Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar & SZA, Sabrina Carpenter and More Hollywood's Most Notable Deaths of 2025 Hollywood's Highest-Profile Harris Endorsements: Taylor Swift, George Clooney, Bruce Springsteen and More
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
The National Weather Service issues Alaska's first ever heat advisory
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — For the first time ever, parts of Alaska will be under a heat advisory — but you can put an asterisk at the end of that term. It's not the first instance of unusually high temperatures in what many consider the nation's coldest state, but the National Weather Service only recently allowed for heat advisories to be issued there. Information on similarly warm weather conditions previously came in the form of 'special weather statements." Using the heat advisory label could help people better understand the weather's severity and potential danger, something a nondescript 'special weather statement' didn't convey. The first advisory is for Sunday in Fairbanks, where temperatures are expected to top 85 degrees Fahrenheit (29 degrees Celsius). Fairbanks has has been warmer in the past, but this is unusual for June, officials said. Here's what to know about Alaska's inaugural heat advisory: Why it's the first The National Weather Service's switch from special weather statements to advisories was meant to change how the public views the information. 'This is an important statement, and the public needs to know that there will be increasing temperatures, and they could be dangerous because Alaska is not used to high temperatures like these,' said Alekya Srinivasan, a Fairbanks-based meteorologist. 'We want to make sure that we have the correct wording and the correct communication when we're telling people that it will be really hot this weekend,' she said. Not unprecedented and not climate change The change doesn't reflect unprecedented temperatures, with Fairbanks having reached 90 degrees twice in 2024, Srinivasan said. It's purely an administrative change by the weather service. 'It's not that the heat in the interior that prompted Fairbanks to issue this is record heat or anything like that. It's just now there's a product to issue,' said Rich Thoman, a climate specialist at the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy. Thoman also clarified that the term swap doesn't have anything to do with climate change. 'I think some of it is related to the recognition that hot weather does have an impact on Alaska, and in the interior especially," Thoman said. Little air conditioning While the temperatures in the forecast wouldn't be considered extreme in other U.S. states, Thoman noted that most Alaska buildings don't have air conditioning. 'And just the opposite, most buildings in Alaska are designed to retain heat for most of the year," he said. People can open their windows to allow cooler air in during early morning hours — if wildfires aren't burning in blaze-prone state. But if it's smoky and the windows have to remain shut, buildings can heat up very rapidly. 'Last year was the third year in a row in Fairbanks with more than a hundred hours of visibility-reducing smoke, the first time we've ever had three consecutive years over a hundred hours,' he said. There's only been two summers in Fairbanks in the 21st century with no hours of smoke that reduced visibility, a situation he said was commonplace from the 1950s to the 1970s. What about Anchorage? The Juneau and Fairbanks weather service offices have been allowed to issue heat advisories beginning this summer, but not the office in the state's largest city of Anchorage — at least not yet. And, regardless, temperatures in the area haven't reached the threshold this year at which a heat advisory would be issued. Brian Brettschneider, a climate scientist with the weather service, said by email that the Anchorage office is working on a plan to issue such advisories in the future.
