WATCH: Death, devastation and desperation as storms continue to lash KZN
Rescue workers have been battling heavy rainfall across several parts of KwaZulu-Natal while the death toll continues to raise.
A 100-year-old man is trapped in his home in Isipingo, a family has been confined to their car as flood waters close in and workers have been pinned down at factories as heavy rainfall continues to wreak havoc.
The SA Weather Service has issued a level 8 warning for severe flooding.
Amanzimtoti, south of Durban, has been cut off from the rest of the province after floodwaters engulfed the N2.
“We can do with every set of hands that can help. Whether its government, whether its private – there is devastation everywhere,” said Amanzimtoti councillor Andre Breetge.
Tuesday marks the fifth day of heavy rainfall.
Airport containers have washed away, floating across the N2 freeway.
Workers from PEP and SAPREF refinery have issued emotional pleas for them to be rescue in the Isipingo and industrial area of Prospecton.
“Workers that went to work last night are trapped on the top floors of factories,” Beetge says.
Floodwaters are continuing to rise but preference is being given to pregnant women and children.
WATCH: Emergency services ‘stretched to the max’ in flood-hit KZN
“It is very difficult to prioritize but you cannot pass the one on your way to the other – you try to save what you come across first working your way to the epicentre,” he adds.
In the Hillcrest area, children were trapped in a school while a family of four is waiting for rescue workers as they remain in the car since being trapped on the N2 freeway after traveling from Pinetown.
“We are living the nightmare, very little sleep but we trust that God will swell on us as the day progresses,” says Beetge.