The major flooding of the KZN area on 11/12 April 2022 resulted in significant damage and loss of life over an extended area along the South and North coast. A huge part of this could have been prevented if municipalities and local government had heeded the warning signs in the previous few years. In April 2019 a similar flood occurred in the exact same South Coast basin and no action was taken by local government. 3 years later it resulted in utter devastation (see photos of same area on the N2 below 2019 vs 2022)
Herewith some of the observed facts that in part resulted in the flooding:
Proper stormwater system management has been neglected. Local and provincial government has not been in a position to maintain our road or storm-water infrastructure.
• Key to road maintenance is keeping water off the road by maintaining culverts, storm-water pipes and keeping the roadside clean and storm-water systems unblocked. The recent conditions of our roads after a few minor rainstorms were the first warning signs. Wash-away flooded roads and potholes are major signs of poor storm-water management
• The Durban South is a dried our marshland turned into industrial area with storm-water canals channeling water through the area to prevent flooding. For the past twenty years there have been very little if any maintenance done on any of these major storm-water channels. They are littered with debris, badly silted and partially blocked in many areas. Roadside channels along the N2 were overgrown and completely silted.
• Local and provincial government have allowed uncontrolled development of informal settlements along the storm-water catchment without proper assessment of storm-water or environmental impact. These settlements have removed vegetation, platformed and converted large areas into hard surface which ultimately resulted in excessive runoff into the catchment areas.
• No planning was done for storm-water retention system nor did anybody assess the impact that these areas will have on the already under capacity downstream canals that were not designed for these additional storm-water volumes.
• The local metros have allowed large new development to take place without assessing storm-water impact nor ensuring proper storm-water management during the construction phases. The damage to some areas is a direct consequence of huge new housing developments, that removed vegetation and did not implement the correct storm-water management practices during construction.
This has been a prefect recipe for disaster in spite of all the warning signs. An unpredictable cut-off low system that was not predicted by the South African Weather bureau resulted in 4 days of consistent rain over the coast and the catchment areas. Saturated soil could not retain any more water, resulting in uncontrolled and major storm-water runoffs. Once the water flooded the canals and breached their banks – the rest is history and available for all to see on social media.
KZN is a subtropical area with a history of major rain and floods for the past 100 years. As cities expand and more people move to these urban areas, it becomes the responsibility of town planning and local and provincial government to plan and expand all system accordingly, which in KZN has not happened in the last 25 years.
Unfortunately, under funding and the associated corruption within government capital projects will not allow the funds to go where it is needed and the storm-water infrastructure will continue to deteriorate, resulting in more frequent flooding, water shortages and power outages.
Seven months later and the the signs of the floods are still visible and only basic repairs have been done by local and provincial government. A bride suspended in mid air, not repaired and just and covered in danger signs, section of the N2 freeway from Amanzimtoti to Umkomaas still washed away and not repaired! The South coast railway line from Amanzimtoti past Umkomaas has not been repaired cutting off major industries like SAPPI in Umkomaas from bulk rail transport and forcing them to resort to heavy road freight on an already frail road infrastructure.
Events like this will happen again in future and property owners can only prepare for what they have control over. We would recommend reviewing all storm-water systems on the property and upgrading drainage and attenuation systems. Some low lying areas that are prone to flooding might even need to install emergency storm-water barriers that can be activated during a period of flooding, with the priority of protecting plant and equipment from catastrophic flooding.
During the April 2022 floods, the local water water supply infrastructure failed and took 15 days to repair. Business and home owners need to ensure that they have backup water or a rainwater harvesting system installed that can recover rainwater and store it and use for periods like this.
Prepare for all aspects of water management and be prepared for any future event.
