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South Africa declares national disaster as floods leave at least 30 dead
Over 173,000 people are affected, with rescue operations underway in both South Africa and Mozambique, where extreme conditions have also displaced thousands.
After South Africa gripped with heavy rains and storms over the past few weeks, the country on Sunday declared a national disaster. At least 30 were reported dead in the country's northeastern Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces, after widespread flooding and strong winds battered the region.
“I classify the disaster as a national disaster,” news agency AFP reported quoting the head of South Africa's National Disaster Management Centre Elias Sithole as he issued the statement on Sunday.
The rising floodwaters destroyed homes and killed dozens, with thousands seeking shelter in neighboring Mozambique.
More than 1,73,000 people are affected so far in light of the hazardous situation that have gripped the country, the report cited latest figures released by the Mozambican government on Friday.
Rising waters had forced authorities to evacuate guests and shut down the famous Kruger National Park on Thursday. After water receded from the region over the weekend, search operations were launched to look for survivors and recover bodies.
South African National Parks on a recent social media post announced o Sunday that day visitation to the park would resume tomorrow, as it urged tourists to ‘exercise caution’.
Baby born on roof in Mozambique
The deadly flood did not leave Mozambique behind. In one such incident, a woman was forced to give birth to her child on a roof, to keep the rising flood water away. With rivers overflowing banks and swallowing several neighborhoods, thousands were displaced in Mozambique too.
A resident of northern Maputo's Gaza province said that it was her sister-in-law who was forced to deliver her newborn in such extreme conditions as her family was waiting for authorities to rescue them since Thursday.
“We've been here for 4 days. My nephew was born yesterday around 11 PM (2100 GMT), and we still haven't had any rescue or assistance for the baby and mother,” she said.
Rescue efforts gradually reached survivors who sheltered on roofs and trees to keep them safe from the alarmingly rising waters.
Before the recent disaster, the country saw at least eight deaths since December 21 due to extreme weather conditions triggered by heavy rains.
Relief
The director of a civil society group, who had received several reports of death after the floods said that there was a potential chance of increase in the death toll over the next few hours.
Rescue teams from South Africa were dispatched to Mozambique on Sunday after five members of a South African mayoral delegation was swept away by floodwaters around 200 kilometres north of Maputo in Chokwe.
