Durban – The eThekwini Municipality’s Disaster Management and Emergency Services are responding to a heavy rain incident that resulted in four tragic fatalities in the south of Durban.
The adverse weather experienced in the City led to the collapse of formal and informal structures with reports of entrapments being attended to by authorities.
eThekwini Municipality said four fatalities were reported in Folweni, KwaMakhutha, Demat, and Ensimbini after a wall collapsed while the occupants were asleep.
Emergency services including the City’s Disaster Management, Fire Department, as well as the South African Police Service, Pathology, and Emergency Medical Services, responded Wednesday night, (19 February 2025), to the scene where people were found trapped under rubble.
The team worked through the night to aid the trapped victims.
“Unfortunately, four people died which include a 45-year-old male in KwaMakhutha, a 13-year-old male in Folweni, a 12-year-old female in Demat, and a 13-year-old female in Ensimbini,” said the eThekwini Municipality.
Rescue operations were underway with reported entrapments in the Adams Mission area.
The City has activated its joint Disaster Management Operations Centre to coordinate its response to the impacts of the latest weather-related incident.
According to the Forecast Early Warning System, 184mm of rain was reported in the Amanzimtoti area between midnight to 5am this morning.
At this point, most of the impacts have been related to flooding, especially in the southern parts of the City.
Affected areas include Amanzimtoti, Morton, Clairwood and Isiphingo.
As a safety precaution, several beaches have been temporarily closed until further notice.
The muddy water and pollution streaming in from flooded estuaries have led to the temporary closure of the uMdloti Beach, Isiphingo Beach, Pipeline Beach, Toti Main Beach, Warner Beach, Winklespruit Beach, and uMgababa Beach.
These beaches will be reopened as soon as conditions allow.
There have also been numerous reports of uprooted trees that are obstructing roadways in Chatsworth, Umkhomazi, Morningside, and Verulam.
Canals are flowing at full capacity with the risk of flooding nearby properties in the south of Durban near the Isiphingo and Prospecton areas.
There are road closures in some parts of the City, and Prospecton has limited access due to flooding.
Motorists are advised to follow traffic reports and use alternative routes.
Electricity outages have been reported is some areas and ongoing restoration is underway.
All clinics are operational and open to the public.
Disaster Management, Emergency Rescue teams and other Municipal departments are working together to conduct rescue operations and assessments.
“The financial implications associated with incidents from last night’s adverse weather have not yet been quantified as this requires extensive assessments after the mop-up operations,” said the eThekwini Municipality.
“Further updates will be communicated as soon as information becomes available.”
