CONFIRMED: KZN battered by at least two tornados

"KwaZulu-Natal experienced an outbreak of at least two tornadoes affecting Newcastle, Utrecht, Ballito and Tongaat," says forecaster Kevin Rae. 

Five people lost their lives when the storm battered areas north of Durban in the afternoon. 

Gripping footage of a massive tornado barrelling through Tongaat and Ballito was widely shared on social media.

It caused extensive damage and outages. 

The South African Weather Service issued warnings about the sudden spell of extreme weather that began developing over the weekend. 

Rae says they were tracking a strong low-pressure system [an upper air cut-off low system], which was expected to cause severe weather in the coming days.

"This system was expected to develop a range of severe weather including severe storms, heavy rain and flooding, heavy snowfall as well as very rough around our southern ocean and coastal areas. Heavy rain and flooding occurred on Saturday night over parts of the Eastern Cape."

Areas in and around Sandfields in Tongaat experienced a burst of severe weather that ripped off roofs and flooded streets. 

Heavy rain, hail and winds wreaked havoc in the afternoon, leaving a number of people injured. 

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