Shipping containers float down freeway and wrap around a pole (update on floods)

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

It sounds like a disaster movie, but it happened on Tuesday in Durban in South Africa's most devastating storm on record. We had nearly five days of torrential rain and 341 people have lost their lives, which sadly includes a friend whose house collapsed. Her son and partner were rescued after 3 hours of digging and are in hospital. It's hard to take in all that has happened over the past few days.
This is her home where we spent Christmas Day. 
To really appreciate the scale of the destruction you need to see the videos. You can scroll down on some of the links. We were fortunate in our retirement village as the only problem we had was a collapsed road outside our property.

https://www.iol.co.za/news/watchpetrol-tanker-floating-in-ocean-washes-up-on-durban-beach-5456ef5a-f47d-4ade-879e-fc4a970085c5
https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2022-04-12-watch-shipping-containers-float-on-flooded-durban-highway/
https://www.iol.co.za/news/10-heartbreaking-pictures-that-show-the-true-extent-of-kzns-flood-damage-c91570a5-8dec-4066-b041-36fdd478f28c

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

This is a video at the beginning of the storm

[LilyBLily]

I'm so sorry for your loss. How heartbreaking.

[Vijaya]

Oh no! This is terrible. I'm so sorry. Prayers ascending.

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

I'm so sorry for your loss. How heartbreaking.

Thanks. So many people have lost so much. One poor man lost four children when a wall collapsed on them. 
Other retirement villages have not been as fortunate as we have.

[Maggie Ann]

How devastating. Jan, you seem to have lost a number of friends to terrible circumstances.

 

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

We've just received at WhatsApp warning about more heavy rain over the weekend  . Been advised to stay indoors. The infrastructures have been damaged and we've had intermittent water supply and some places with no electricity. Roads have been washed away so the municipality workers can't reach the structures to repair them. Been collecting rain water for the toilet and got stocks of bottled water. Fun and games rushing to shower and do washing while the water is on. But we are fortunate compared to the people who have lost everything.

[notthatamanda]

So sorry about your friend, Jan. Hope her family will recover.

[Jeff Tanyard]

Man, that sucks.  I'm glad you're okay, Jan.  Sorry about your friend.   

[elleoco]

I'm glad you're okay and hope you stay that way through what's still coming. My sympathy about your friend and prayers for her family.

[VanessaC]

I'm so sorry for your loss.

I do hope that the next bout of weather is not as bad, and that you and your loved ones get through it.

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

Thanks everyone. Power and water going on and off, sometimes at the same time  . Roads washed away so they can't repair broken infrastructures. Just logged on quickly to buy more data as we were without power for 22 hrs and couldn't use wi-fi. Phones also lost battery power so had to plug into my lantern to charge the battery. Fun and games collecting rain water for the toilet. But these are minor inconveniences when you see the amount of destruction and loss of life - now over 400 people lost their lives 

[cecilia_writer]

How dreadful  and so close to home for you.  Thanks for posting about it, Jan, as we don't seem to be getting much information on the news here.

[Maggie Ann]

Thanks everyone. Power and water going on and off, sometimes at the same time  . Roads washed away so they can't repair broken infrastructures. Just logged on quickly to buy more data as we were without power for 22 hrs and couldn't use wi-fi. Phones also lost battery power so had to plug into my lantern to charge the battery. Fun and games collecting rain water for the toilet. But these are minor inconveniences when you see the amount of destruction and loss of life - now over 400 people lost their lives 

One thing I've learned is to fill up the tubs for toilet water in case of a hurricane but we have some warning to prepare. That's of no use if the lift stations aren't working, which was the case several years ago. They've since installed generators at the stations.

Praying for a lack of rain for y'all and no more loss of life or destruction.

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

Thanks everyone. Power and water going on and off, sometimes at the same time  . Roads washed away so they can't repair broken infrastructures. Just logged on quickly to buy more data as we were without power for 22 hrs and couldn't use wi-fi. Phones also lost battery power so had to plug into my lantern to charge the battery. Fun and games collecting rain water for the toilet. But these are minor inconveniences when you see the amount of destruction and loss of life - now over 400 people lost their lives 

One thing I've learned is to fill up the tubs for toilet water in case of a hurricane but we have some warning to prepare. That's of no use if the lift stations aren't working, which was the case several years ago. They've since installed generators at the stations.

Praying for a lack of rain for y'all and no more loss of life or destruction.

Bath and buckets filled with water  . Unfortunately it has been raining on and off all day, and more predicted. So worrying for all the people who have lost their homes, or could do if there is more heavy rain. 

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

It rained last night and has been raining on and off all day. The ground is saturated and on Friday night my friend's friend had to flee her house with family and pets at 2 am. The mud reached counter level in the kitchen.  The road below our retirement village collapsed and we went to have a look at the repairs. The banks of the stream/river running along the road have been scoured leaving the road undermined. Will have to use the other roads in the area. 

[idontknowyet]

Thats scary. Glad to hear your safe. So sorry to hear about all the damage and loss of life.

[TimothyEllis]

Uploaded for Jan.

The music was removed for copyright reasons.

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

Many thanks, Tim. 
It has been raining again, but hopefully will let up tomorrow as the ground is saturated. Sadly, a search and rescue dog and handler lost their lives when they drowned while searching for bodies  . We have our power and water back, but so many people don't even have a roof over their head. It has not been a good Easter as it has been the worst natural disaster in SA history. 

[Vijaya]

Truly heartbreaking to hear of all the loss of life and homes in your community. May God give you all comfort and peace.

[Maggie Ann]

Truly frightening photos. Praying that there is no more loss of life and those that have lost everything will get the help they need quickly.

[RiverRun]

So sorry to hear about all you are going through. Praying.

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

The tragic personal stories are now coming to light. 

We had 400 mm (nearly 16 inches) of rain in four days (from about 10th - 13th April). There have been 435 deaths with many more still missing. One poor woman lost 11 members of her family. Thousands of homes and businesses have been destroyed. The Toyota factory was flooded and hundreds of new cars were under water.

On a personal note, we have been EXTREMELY fortunate that we did not suffer any damage in our retirement village, and our power and water was restored fairly quickly. The longest we were without power was 22 hrs, and water about a day (although it does go on and off periodically, but that is merely a slight inconvenience).

A nearby shopping mall, which is one of the biggest in SA, is still without water and they have portaloos in the carpark.
Many communities are still without power or water, and some completely cut off. A writer friend lives next to an area that was cut off when what used to be the road became a ravine. Her community got together to make food and they had to deliver it via a long ladder placed in the ravine. When the mayor arrived to assess the damage he just stood and shook his head.

Animals and snakes have been washed up on the beaches having come down the flooded rivers, including a chameleon that was still alive. I guess that would be another story for Leon Chameleon PI to solve.

My doctor’s house was destroyed in the floods. Instead of rebuilding she has decided to move to the Cape where she was offered a practice. So that is a sad loss to us.

Our local shopping mall was completely flooded with water and mud up to the tills in the supermarket. It is still closed 3 weeks later. It is also our nearest post office and place where we renew our car licences. Opposite the shopping mall is the drivers' testing ground and where we renew our driving licences. It is also closed as computers and records etc. are under water. Thank goodness I renewed mine in January. We do have another shopping mall about 10 mins away.

It is going to take months and billions of rands to repair all the damage.

[Vijaya]

Jan, the picture above looks so peaceful at the top vs the destruction at the bottom. Nature can be very cruel and the loss of life and goods so hard for all the people to bear. I pray your community recovers soon, that the bonds of charity grow stronger.

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

Jan, the picture above looks so peaceful at the top vs the destruction at the bottom. Nature can be very cruel and the loss of life and goods so hard for all the people to bear. I pray your community recovers soon, that the bonds of charity grow stronger.

Thanks so much. When you see shipping containers littering the freeway you can understand the force of the water. Some travelled kilometres. Just getting the water and power back to the communities is going to be a massive job as roads have to be repaired first in order to reach and repair the broken pipes. 

[Maggie Ann]

Is the Red Cross there? I hope so. And I hope other countries including the US are at least sending supplies.

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

Is the Red Cross there? I hope so. And I hope other countries including the US are at least sending supplies.

Thanks for your concern.
The Gift of the Givers Foundation is a charity organisation that is doing most of the work. People have more faith in that than they do in the government departments . Burial assistance has been offered by the local municipality. But it is up to the government to get everything up and running again.
Supplies are coming in from the other provinces that weren't affected by the floods.

PS our water has been low pressure all day and has now gone off. No water is worse than no power. With no power you can make a plan to use biogel fuel or have a bar-b-q. No water means raiding your stashed supply. 

[Maggie Ann]

Is the Red Cross there? I hope so. And I hope other countries including the US are at least sending supplies.

Thanks for your concern.
The Gift of the Givers Foundation is a charity organisation that is doing most of the work. People have more faith in that than they do in the government departments . Burial assistance has been offered by the local municipality. But it is up to the government to get everything up and running again.
Supplies are coming in from the other provinces that weren't affected by the floods.

PS our water has been low pressure all day and has now gone off. No water is worse than no power. With no power you can make a plan to use biogel fuel or have a bar-b-q. No water means raiding your stashed supply. 

It's hurricane season on June 1 and I've already stashed water bottles. I have a big freezer in my garage and I keep containers of water in it year round.

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

Thanks for your concern.
The Gift of the Givers Foundation is a charity organisation that is doing most of the work. People have more faith in that than they do in the government departments . Burial assistance has been offered by the local municipality. But it is up to the government to get everything up and running again.
Supplies are coming in from the other provinces that weren't affected by the floods.

PS our water has been low pressure all day and has now gone off. No water is worse than no power. With no power you can make a plan to use biogel fuel or have a bar-b-q. No water means raiding your stashed supply. 
[/quote]

It's hurricane season on June 1 and I've already stashed water bottles. I have a big freezer in my garage and I keep containers of water in it year round.
[/quote]

Good idea. Our main problem is water for the toilet  I had several buckets of rain water ready, but it looked as if our water supply was ok so I used it on my pot plants.

[Maggie Ann]

Thanks for your concern.
The Gift of the Givers Foundation is a charity organisation that is doing most of the work. People have more faith in that than they do in the government departments . Burial assistance has been offered by the local municipality. But it is up to the government to get everything up and running again.
Supplies are coming in from the other provinces that weren't affected by the floods.

PS our water has been low pressure all day and has now gone off. No water is worse than no power. With no power you can make a plan to use biogel fuel or have a bar-b-q. No water means raiding your stashed supply. 

It's hurricane season on June 1 and I've already stashed water bottles. I have a big freezer in my garage and I keep containers of water in it year round.
[/quote]

Good idea. Our main problem is water for the toilet  I had several buckets of rain water ready, but it looked as if our water supply was ok so I used it on my pot plants.
[/quote]

Funny, I just realized last week I don't have any indoor plants.