eThekwini Mayor, Mxolisi Kaunda, has urged residents to remain indoors and avoid going to town if there is no emergency, as heavy rain continues to wreak havoc in KwaZulu-Natal.

Briefing the media on the floods caused by heavy rains in the past few days, Kaunda said when the South African Weather Service alerted the municipality of the heavy rains, an alert was issued to members of the public.

The municipality’s disaster management teams were put on standby. Kaunda said immediately after receiving reports of distress from the public, which worsened on Monday night, a decision was taken to open all the community halls in residential areas to accommodate displaced residents.

“Following a number of reports logged in all our call centres, the entire system was overwhelmed and it became very difficult for many of our residents to get through. This state of affairs resulted in us being unable to respond to all queries that the members of the community put before us,” Kaunda said.

The Mayor apologised to residents who were left without assistance, as they were unable to reach the call centres.

With the provision of basic services being impacted, Kaunda said most of the city’s electricity power stations had been flooded and teams were unable to access them on Monday night.

However, he said the teams started working on the facilities in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Kaunda urged residents to bear with the municipality, while it worked to restore electricity supply to all the residential areas and businesses.

He assured residents that the municipality is attending to all the infrastructural challenges.

“There are certain water treatment plants and water mains that have been damaged, including those that belong to uMgeni Water… Our teams are on the ground to try to return the situation to normalcy.

“Our roads were [also] not spared, as [fallen] trees blocked the pathways in many residential areas of our municipality. We continue to assess the damage and further details will be given as the day progresses,” Kaunda said.

The municipality has deployed multidisciplinary teams across the city in a bid rescue communities and save lives.

Kaunda urged residents residing along river banks or in unstable structures to relocate to safer areas or seek shelter at the community halls.

“It’s better to leave your home than to be washed away with it. Our priority is to save lives,” he said.

He further urged communities to avoid low bridges next to streams.

KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zihle Zikalala and provincial Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) MEC, Sipho Hlomuka, will visit the city to assess the damage caused.

Municipal staff have also been dispatched to cemeteries where flooding has been reported.

Kaunda expressed his heartfelt condolences to all families who have lost their loved ones during the heavy rains.

“We are going to interact with them to give the necessary support wherever it is required. We urge our people to utilise the City’s Disaster Management call centre by using the number 031 367 0000 or 031 367 0039,” the Mayor said.

Source: South African Government News Agency