Raging storm leaves Durban in the dark

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February 12 2007 at 10:39AM

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More than 15 Durban suburbs were without power on Sunday night after a violent electrical storm on Saturday night also caused flooding and damage to streets and homes in the city.

According to the South African Weather Service’s Durban office, the storm is likely to have originated in the Drakensberg and moved towards the ocean, hitting Pietermaritzburg and Richmond before reaching Durban.

However, despite its origins in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, more rain fell in Durban (22,5mm) than in Pietermaritzburg (15,6mm).

‘There was a marked increase in the number of fender-bender accidents’
Sunday night, 17 suburbs were still without power, with most of the blackouts being blamed on the storm.

Among them were Emolweni, KwaDabeka, Waterfall, Kloof, Botha’s Hill, Kwa-Nyuswa, Wyebank, Reservoir Hills, Mayville/Sherwood, Cottonlands, Inanda, River View, Umhlanga, Bluff, Umbumbulu and Adam’s Mission.

The power cuts came after a string of blackouts in Durban last week, a week which saw at least one area without power each day.

A power failure also hit Sahara Stadium Kingsmead on Wednesday night, plunging the one-day international cricket match between South Africa and Pakistan into darkness for about an hour.

Umbilo residents were without power for more than 50 hours from last Monday night until electricity returned on Thursday.

Other areas affected included the city centre, Durban North, Umgeni Heights, Springfield Park, Morningside, Overport and Inanda.

These blackouts were not weather-related.

Emergency services officials said the weekend storm had caused flooding on major traffic routes, disruptions to traffic lights at major intersections and flooding at informal settlements in Durban.

ER24 Operations Manager Neil Noble said there had been flooding on the north-bound carriageway of the M4 freeway, both carriageways of the N3, Edwin Swales VC Drive and the N2 at Amanzimtoti.

As a result, several minor collisions had been reported.

“ER24 paramedics and ambulances raced all over the greater Durban metropolitan area for a large number of accidents, caused mainly by vehicles aquaplaning when they hit large puddles of water at speed, and slamming into the back of slower moving vehicles when they were unable to stop in time.

“There was a marked increase in the number of fender-bender accidents,” Noble said.

S’bu Zikode, Chairperson of the shack-dwellers’ movement Abahlali Basemjondolo, said the Kennedy Road and Foreman Road informal settlements at Clare Estate had been “badly affected” by the storm.

“Residents did not sleep (on Saturday night) after their dwellings were flooded by the rain.

“Water burst in from beneath and flooded people’s homes, damaging a lot of furniture and belongings.

“Luckily there were no homes that were washed away by the floods.

“Residents are drying out their belongings and salvaging what they can,” Zikode said.

Weather Service forecaster S’fiso Ngubane said: “The thunderstorms Durban is experiencing are normal summer rains.

“The weather will clear up and get hotter from Tuesday,” he added.