The death toll from floods and earthquakes caused by heavy rains that hit the South African port city of Durban and surrounding KwaZulu-Natal province rose to 59 on Tuesday, police said Tuesday (April 12th).

Meteorologists forecast "heavy rain" on Tuesday evening, but expect "heavy rain" to be "significant" on Wednesday.

The state government said in a statement that "45 people were killed in Ethekwini town (Durban Metro) alone and over 14 people were killed...unfortunately" in the iLembe area.

The devastation has "caused incredible turmoil and devastated lives and infrastructure", he said, affecting all races and classes, from remote areas of the city, from the city to the beautiful gardens. 

President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is due to travel to Durban on Wednesday, said: "This is a catastrophic disaster by the force of the crisis and a situation which requires a good government response."

African Union Chairperson Moussa Paqi Mahamat said, "I express my deepest condolences to the families of those who lost loved ones to the floods."

Extreme levels of flood danger were announced in many parts of the city, as well as landslides and mudslides in the southeast of the city.

Heavy rain passed on the city highway, only the top of the lighthouse looked like underwater periscopes.

The torrent split several bridges and flooded vehicles and shattered houses. The fuel tank was thrown on the road and floated in the sea.

Flooding on city highways, broken bridges, flooded cars and shattered houses.

Numerous containers were dropped like dominoes and smashed all over the garden, some spilling into the city's main thoroughfares, one of South Africa's biggest gateways to the ocean.

South African public transport company Transnet, like international shipping company Maersk, has delayed transport from its Durban terminal due to flooding.

"Around 3 a.m. I heard the car shake and when I tried to open the shield because it sounded like someone had hit me, I looked down the well... It was very high,” said truck driver Mthunzi Ngcobo.

+  Looting 

The disaster relief agency in KwaZulu-Natal's largest city, Durban, has urged residents and low-lying areas to move to higher ground.

State President Sile Zikalala said more than 2,000 homes and 4,000 "illegal" homes or tents were damaged.

Relief operations, supported by the army, evacuated people from the disaster areas.

Fifty-two schoolchildren and teachers expelled from Durban college have been transported to safety after "long losses, imprisonments", police said. Nature education was mentioned. More than 140 schools have been affected by the floods.

The electricity company was flooded, the water supply was cut off and even the cemetery could not avoid the damage.

The city was just recovering from a deadly crisis in July, when a store was looted and a warehouse was set up, in South Africa's worst crisis since the end of the apartheid.

Thefts have been reported, along with TV footage showing the thieves being robbed of their belongings.

+  The state enforced "looting warning boxes" during floods. "Climate Change" is on the decline

The southern regions of the most economically active countries have been affected by climate change, suffering recurrence and causing heavy rains and floods.

Around 70 people died in the April 2019 floods.

“We know climate change is getting worse,” said Mary Galvin, professor of development research at the University of Johannesburg. "We estimate that flood data will occur between 2017 and 2019 when storms hit flood data, and now more clearly than that. By 2022 'will do,'" he said .

Government stress is unplanned, he said, "weather and flooding are going to get worse and that's what we're seeing."

"It was absolutely devastating, but the equivalent damage was the fact that we did nothing to prepare for it," he complained. The South African Meteorological Agency acknowledged that "heavy rain overnight (Monday) and early morning (Tuesday)" and "exceeded South African weather forecast expectations".

(Source: //AFP)