Local news
On This Day: Floods of 2022 as KZN faced catastrophic natural disaster – April 12
It was one of the worst disasters in the country in the 21st century.
Today (Friday) is expected to be windy along the KwaZulu-Natal coastline, otherwise partly cloudy and warm conditions are expected.
However, on this day, two years ago it was a different story.
Wits University said research indicated that the disastrous flood that hit Durban in April 2022 was the most catastrophic natural disaster yet recorded in KZN, in collective terms of lives lost, homes and infrastructure damaged or destroyed, and economic impact.
The article goes on to say that, in April 2022, the KZN coastal zone, including the greater Durban area and South Coast, received more than 300mm of rain in 24 hours.
READ: High praise for saving lives during floods
This led to calamitous flooding, with 459 people losing their lives and 88 people still missing by the end of May 2022.
Over 4000 homes were destroyed, 40 000 people left homeless, and 45 000 people were temporarily left unemployed.
It was one of the deadliest disasters in the country in the 21st century, and the deadliest storm since the 1987 floods.
A national state of disaster was declared. The floods caused more than R17 billion in infrastructure damage.
Looking ahead at the weekend’s weather forecast, Angelo Ricardo Hoorn, from Severe Weather and Information Centre, said there no severe storms are expected today or tomorrow.
But, the development of strong to severe thunderstorms with heavy downpours, hail, excessive lightning and damaging winds are possible in parts of KZN (the eastern parts in particular) on Sunday, April 14.
* Credit to: Angelo Ricardo Hoorn from Severe Weather and Information Centre, Wits University, South African Weather Services and Wikipedia.
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