I know that English people love to discuss the weather, and I'm frequently aware of what is going on back in the UK, but here we're having the most bizarre weather that it's worthy of a blog entry all on its own.
To start with, last Thursday, I'd just got in to my house from a meeting, closed the door and the heavens opened with one of the worst storms we've seen for a long time. The whole place was lit up with blue lightening and the power was on/off for ages. Storms here tend to last several hours, best to shelter from them. Thankfully no-one here was hurt, we are a bit vulnerable up on top of a hill. However the storm caused a lot of damage and power failures around Durban, some of which still aren't sorted.
And now this morning a mini Tsunami has hit the Durban coastline, to add to the city's woes. I've found some photos on the internet to show you. There are more if you search online. I wonder if this has made it onto the BBC...
Here are a couple of articles I've found, think there might be more after what's predicted for this evening. Think I might plan a quiet (?) night in... the storms round here are no joke...
pray the damage is not as bad as it could be and for all the emergency services people who have to be on-call tonight.
Durban pounded by massive surf
Durban's beach front areas were pounded by massive surf in the early hours of Monday morning leaving the city's famed Golden Mile littered with debris as emergency services rescued numerous people.The National Sea Rescue Institute together with the police's Search and Rescue Unit evacuated nine people from the Isipingo Island hotel at the mouth of the Isipingo river near Durban International Airport.The SA Weather Service in Durban said winds in excess of 40 knots [80kph or gale force] were reported on Sunday night.The heavy weather forced the closure of all port operations in Durban. National Ports Authority spokesperson Jyothi Naidoo said the port had been closed to incoming vessels since Sunday morning and that all departures and arrivals had stopped shortly after midnight.
"It is still closed. There is a five-metre swell and a wind speed of 45 knots at the harbour entrance," she said.NSRI spokesperson Craig Lambinon said there was flooding in the area caused by the swelling of the river and strong onshore winds."We are identifying the major disaster areas and will be trying to help evacuate people there first."Lambinon said it had been feared one person had drowned when a car was washed off a bridge in Umkomaas. However, it was later determined that it was empty.Lambinon said particularly high tides were expected on Monday and Tuesday due to the alignment of the moon, sun and earth. He said this compounded with the strong onshore winds had caused the huge surf."This is not a spring tide but all the factors with the strong onshore winds have caused the spring tide-like conditions," he said.The NSRI's Durban station commander Paul Bevis estimated the swell to be between six and seven metres.He said Monday morning's high tide was receding so emergency services were now on standby as the situation was under control. Staff at the Steers restaurant on the Lower Marin Parade were injured when waves crash into the restaurant. Netcare 911 and EMRS transported the staff members to various hospitals. None were seriously injured."There goes my salary increase," one staff member said as she surveyed the damage.Security personnel were posted outside the restaurant to prevent looting. Senior police officials were surveying the damage on Monday morning as certain areas were cordoned off from traffic.The Vodacom Netcare 911 helicopter was airborne and assisting in determining the extent of the damage."Now we are waiting to see what the tides do," he said. - Sapa
MONSTER WAVE WARNING ISSUED
Durban hospitals are filling up with storm victims as rescue and emergency services prepared for "the mother of all storms", expected to hit the KZN coastline at about 6pm on Monday."We are mobilising every resource, from surf rescue helicopters to available ambulances and even off-duty personnel," said Netcare 911 spokesperson Chris Botha.Inspector Troy Alison of the Police Search and Rescue team said all their resources were already in place. "All emergency services are working together and we are making contingency plans ahead of this afternoon's storm. Apparently it's going to be much worse than last night," Alison said.
Meanwhile, the eThekwini Disaster Management team have been locked in a meeting since Monday morning to decide whether homes situated along beaches should be evacuated before the storm.All beaches and ports were closed on Monday after the South African Weather Service issued a national warning that high seas with wave heights in excess of seven metres are expected along the southern KwaZulu-Natal coastline. The Weather Service had earlier predicted that waves would reach five metres, but the storm has been upgraded. Freak tidal waves battered the coastline on Sunday night and dozens of people had to be rescued, while many others are still missing and feared dead. Emergency services fielded numerous reports of missing people, collapsing homes and flooding. Areas devastated by the almost five-metre waves included Umkomaas, Isipingo, Ballito, Durban beachfront, the Bluff, Umdloti, Margate, and other coastline areas. In Isipingo, seven people were rescued from a rooftop after the hotel they were staying in was flooded by high tidal waves. And at the Blue Lagoon beach, two friends were standing in the parking lot when they were hit by a freak wave.On Durban's beachfront, some restaurants and shops were damaged after two freak waves "roughly three metres high" struck between 2 and 3am. Steers, Wimpy, Wrap It up, Milky Lane and other shops were battered. When the Daily News visited the area, owners and inspectors were inspecting the damages. Windows were shattered and doors were completely broken down. Fourteen workers who were trapped inside the restaurants were rescued by emergency services and taken to various hospitals.There were no reported deaths. At Zinkwazi, resident Dennis Brand reports that the parking lot, usually level with the beach, was being eaten away by the waves and what remains is now nine metres above the sand. The skiboat slipway had disintegrated and all that remained of a beachfront pub was twisted metal. Thembinkosi Ngcobo, head of eThekwini's Parks, Leisure and Cemeteries department, said that the local beaches and roads leading to the beaches had been closed until further notice."For safety reasons we are advising people to stay away from beaches. We will be making an assessment tomorrow on whether open the beaches," he said. Chief Fire Officer Mark te Water said the eThekwini fire department had been instrumental in evacuating people from flooded homes along the coastline."Many homes have received extensive damage due to the flooding at parts of the coastline. There have also been several electricity disruptions," he said. Te Water said they were busy with assessments of the damaged areas and hoped these would help determine the full extent of the storm damage. "We're hoping for an aerial assessment of the coastline and along the beachfront."He said that while their staff complement for this evening would be normal, there would be several officers on standby. "We are an emergency service and are available 24 hours a day. We are anticipating a busy night and standby staff will be called in if need be," said te Water. NSRI spokesperson Paul Bevis said that many volunteers were making plans to get off work early so that they could be on standby for Monday night's storm. "Our primary aim is to back up other emergency services and SAPS Search and Rescue whenever they need it. Our guys are committed to helping others," he said.Bevis urged curious onlookers to stay away from he beaches.
