Death toll from South Africa floods rises to more than 200

DURBAN, South Africa

The death toll from devastating floods on South Africa’s coastal KwaZulu-Natal province increased to 253, a provincial official said on Wednesday, from an earlier estimate of just over 50.T

The South Africa Weather Service said the floods now rank among the worst natural disasters in South African history.

The SA Weather Service issued an extremely rare Level 9 weather warning earlier this week. Sadly, it wasn’t enough to save the lives of the hundreds who died.

The announcement of the new death toll comes after President Cyril Ramaphosa toured the affected areas to assess the damage caused by the floods.

He assured the public that government will provide assistance to the families devastated by the floods.

The floods are a huge blow to KwaZulu-Natal, which was focusing on recovery efforts following violent protests and looting in July last year that claimed many lives and cost the province millions of dollars in lost business.