7 months ago
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The dire straits which many eThekwini Metro families find themselves in, more than two years after one of the worst weather catastrophes to devastate parts of KwaZulu-Natal in our time, have spurred many of us, as the key role players in the Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) community, to step up our efforts when it comes to Early Warning Systems (EWS).
Over the last few weeks, we read in the media a heartbreaking story about several eThekwini families that are having difficulty moving on with their lives as the bodies of their next-of-kin, who were swept away by the devastating floods caused by the heavy downpours that lashed the area in April 2022, haven’t found their way home to be buried in dignity.
These floods are described by experts at the Universities of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg and Brighton in Eastbourne, England, as “the most catastrophic natural disaster yet recorded in KZN”. In that fateful 24 hour-period, rain measuring more than 300mm fell over the metro, causing mudslides, and overflows of storm water. The downpour was caused by a cut-off low pressure weather system.
Ahead of the tragedy, the South African Weather Service (SAWS) had issued back-to-back impact-based severe weather warnings. These included an Orange Level 5 warning, indicating a medium likelihood of significant impacts, and an Orange Level 8 warning, indicating a likelihood of severe impacts occurring along the coast and adjacent interior, especially along the southern and central coastline.
Apart from missing people, the disaster left in its wake a grim legacy: a death toll of 459, with 400 destroyed houses, 40,000 misplaced people, 45,000 temporarily jobless people and infrastructural as well as economic damage with an estimated value of R17bn.
The traumatic experiences of the Phewas, Dlizis, Mkhizes and the Hlophes as reported recently in the media, mirror those of the Gumbis in nearby KwaNgcolosi. Three children of the Gumbis, namely Sindokuhle, 14, Asanda Cele, 14, and Lubanzi, 8, are among dozens of people whose bodies remain unaccounted for, despite the authorities’ well-documented search and rescue efforts.
On the second anniversary of the disaster, Sindokuhle’s mother, Nokuthula Gumbi, who is also Asanda and Lubanzi’s aunt, painfully recounted the children’s final moments as told to her by her sister, Philile, who was home with the trio when disaster struck.
Asked by my office if she had been aware of the warnings issued that night, Gumbi, who said she accesses her weather information through television, radio and social media, responded in the affirmative. She had come across the warnings on the Facebook page of the city of eThekwini. However, she said that she had not made much of the warnings at the time.
“I did not expect for [the rain] to last that long or cause that much damage … What did not come across was the severity of the damage that the thunderstorm would cause. Apart from that, we believed we were safe because our home was made of bricks and stable and was a distance from any rivers,” she recalled.
It is the vulnerable communities mentioned above that we, as the local DRR sector, had in mind when we converged in Pretoria for a crucial workshop late last month to identify and plug gaps in SA’s EWS. In coming together, we were heeding UN secretary general António Guterres’ call for the speedy rollout of EWS worldwide to ensure that everyone across the globe is protected from hazardous weather, water or climate events by the end of 2027.
When he addressed COP 28 in Dubai last December, Guterres said: “Delayed action means, quite simply, more deadly extreme weather events. More deaths. More destruction. And less ability to recover. Those on the front line of the climate crisis will continue to pay the highest price.”
According to the UN, EWS have proven their worth elsewhere in the world, helping to bring down the number of deaths, while reducing losses and damage associated with hazardous weather, water and climate events.
We cannot veto the weather that mother nature unleashes on us from time to time such as the destructive snowfall we saw recently in parts of the Eastern Cape, Free State and KwaZulu-Natal. However, if we can better warn vulnerable communities such as those in eThekwini early enough, many lives can be saved.
Thus, the workshop hosted by the SAWS and attended by key stakeholders including Disaster Management authorities and humanitarian organisations three weeks ago, is a major step towards enhancing the resilience of vulnerable communities to survive disasters such as that of 2022.
The resultant action plan, which is being carved into shape, will serve as the country’s roadmap for the realisation of Agenda 2027.
• Abader is the CEO of the SA Weather Service and the country's permanent representative with the World Meteorological Organisation
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