South Africa flood death toll rises as government declares 33 disaster zones

[Joanne98]

Source: Guardian

Flooding in South Africa has killed more than 100 people, forced at least 8,400 from their homes and prompted the government to declare 33 disaster areas.

With unusually heavy rainfall forecast until March, the UN has warned that almost every country in southern Africa is on alert for potentially disastrous flooding.

The government said that 88 deaths in the rising toll were in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province. The costs of damage to the infrastructure in the seven of the country's nine provinces affected is estimated at 160bn rand (£14bn).

The Johannesburg area and northern and eastern provinces have experienced some of their greatest rainfall in 20 years. Flimsy houses in townships, where drainage systems are sometimes poor, are particularly vulnerable to the deluge.



Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/24/south-africa-flood-death-toll