SA Weather warns of more heavy rain and possible flooding over the next three days

National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) is appealing to parents, guardians, caregivers and teachers to tell children under their care to exercise caution around swollen, flooded rivers, not to cross swollen, flooded rivers, and all water including coastal waters, South Coast Herald reports.

A report released by South African Weather Service on Wednesday stated that a sustained high risk of further severe weather conditions over the eastern half of the country for the next three days, with the possibility of strong damaging winds, hail, as well as heavy downpours.

KwaZulu-Natal is expected to be the province particularly affected by these extreme conditions. With the high amounts of rain that have already been experienced, the risk for flooding is very high in places.

The SA Weather Service urged the public to regularly follow weather forecasts on television and radio.

A report released by SA Weather on Tuesday, November 12 stated that while the recent rainfall has been well needed across the eastern parts of the country, the anticipated further rainfall could result in damaging impacts for some areas, especially in KwaZulu-Natal, as well as the extreme eastern parts of Mpumalanga and Limpopo.

High rainfall totals have already been recorded across KwaZulu-Natal, resulting in the ground being saturated. There were showers on Wednesday, November 13, however, accumulated rainfall amounts for Thursday and Friday are expected to exceed 100-150 mm in places over KwaZulu-Natal.

Over the central and eastern parts of KwaZulu-Natal, this heavy rain is expected to lead to flooding of roads and settlements both formal and informal, which may result in some communities being displaced and inaccessible.

There is an extreme danger to life due to fast-flowing rivers. There is also a possibility of mudslides/landslides and soil erosion especially along highly elevated areas which might lead to further disruption to traffic flow.