Call for help following Durban, Port St Johns floods

A non-profit organisation, Country Duty, has called for assistance for those affected by the recent floods in parts of KwaZulu-Natal including Durban and in the Eastern Cape, particularly Port St Johns on the Wild Coast.

The Country Duty team has released, through the organisation’s founder, lawyer Tumi Sole, both a list of nationwide drop off points and banking details for those wishing to assist victims of the flooding.

More detail is provided in the tweets below on where drop off points can be found. There are points in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Port Elizabeth, as well as in Durban and Port St Johns.

A list of items needed by those affected by the floods is also provided in the tweets below.

It was reported on Wednesday morning that the flood death toll from a severe storm that has lashed KwaZulu-Natal has risen to at least 51, according to the provincial government, though the number is set to climb as more bodies are still being recovered.

The province’s local government department said on Wednesday morning that five people were still unaccounted for.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has travelled to the province to visit affected areas.

A severe rainstorm hit the eThekwini (Durban) area on Monday night and continued into Tuesday, with devastation also being recorded on the South Coast.

Roads were flooded and washed away, traffic severely disrupted, numerous accidents were reported and several schools and businesses closed for safety reasons.

In Port St Johns, the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has been deployed to help with rescue and evacuation following severe flooding which has reportedly displaced hundreds of people, EWN reported on Wednesday morning.

(Compiled by Daniel Friedman. Background reporting, ANA)

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