Durban - Following a level 2 weather warning issued by the South African Weather Service (Saws), the City has placed emergency personnel on standby as areas within the region may be affected by flooding.
In a statement on Monday, eThekwini Municipality said the City’s emergency personnel are on standby after Saws issued a warning on the probability of localised flooding of vulnerable areas within eThekwini.
“Higher rain intensities can be expected along the coastal regions of eThekwini.
“Motorists are urged to exercise extreme caution and maintain a safe following distance while driving on wet roads,” said the City.
Durban metro police issued a public notice on Monday on its Facebook page warning residents that along with possible flooding, there could also be infrastructural damage.
“The rains may cause flooding and damages to mud houses, roads, low-lying bridges and rivers while other areas may suffer infrastructural damages,” said the alert.
Paramedic Garrith Jamieson, the spokesperson for ALS Paramedics, warned motorists to exercise caution in this wet weather in Durban and surrounding areas.
“We have been kept extremely busy with multiple accidents this morning (Monday) and we would like to caution motorists that there are many roads that are currently waterlogged.
“We would like to urge you to please leave a little earlier to reach your destination on time and to please slow down your speed. We are seeing that a lot of the collisions are involving speed and traffic in general is severely congested in all areas due to the wet weather,” said Jamieson.
IOL reported on Monday that heavy rain is expected across KwaZulu-Natal today.
According to the report, the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) in the province has issued a warning to municipalities to expect heavy rains.
“This alert comes following a notice from the South African Weather Service on Sunday, which forecasts heavy rains in various parts of the province from Monday 12am until 11pm,” said Cogta spokesperson Nonala Ndlovu in the report.
Cogta said rainfall is expected to the affect other municipalities including Abaqulusi, Dannhauser, eDumbe, eMadlangeni, Endumeni, KwaDukuza, Mkhambathini, Ndwedwe, Newcastle, Nquthu, Umdoni, Umzumbe, and Ray Nkonyeni Municipality.
eThekwini Municipality said in case of an emergency, the public can contact the City’s Disaster Management Centre on 031 361 0000.