Ladysmith flash flood survivors lose all their possessions

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The owner of a caravan park in Ladysmith in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands says people who were living at the facility and who were washed away during flash floods lost all their possessions. A total of six bodies have been recovered, 10 people are still missing.

Bridges and other critical infrastructure were also damaged

Caravan park owner, Petro du Plooy says they have been left devastated.

“Unfortunately three of our tenants passed away. The little girl’s body has been found but her dad and a little boy are still missing and it has been devastating news for us. It happened so fast. The people mostly were still sleeping and it was raining extremely hard about 140mm per hour. The next minute it looked like a wave that came from the Spruit side and apparently the dam broke higher up and that what caused flash flood. Within the few minutes the people weren’t even able to get out of their flats the water started seeping in the door within a minute or two it was about a hip high.”

Flash flood of the Bell’s Spruit and Kliprivier in Ladysmith https://t.co/NnymP7ub7E #ArriveAlive #FlashFlood #Ladysmith @IPSSRescue pic.twitter.com/QqsbdlebKo

— Arrive Alive (@_ArriveAlive) December 25, 2023

Du Plooy says community members have come together to assist the affected families.

“Our income that we lost we can build up again, but life you cannot replace. But with God’s grace we will pick up, stand up and carry on. I must say community and the friends of people have been extraordinary. Everybody came out of no where offering help, offering people a place to sleep. Even after that there are still some of my tenants sleeping with people they don’t even know. It’s just a community that came together and helped everybody and everybody is asking what they can donate and what they can do to help. It’s something beautiful to see within the disaster that we are having at the moment.”

Flash floods in Ladysmith leave six dead, 10 missing : Vusi Khumalo updates

Resident Johannes Msimang — who lost seven of his children — could not hold back tears as he explained the ordeal. Msimang says so far recovery teams have only recovered the bodies of three of his children.

“My kids had visited the home of one of my child’s in laws at night of the Christmas eve on their way back they were traveling in a bakkie they never reached our home. Then yesterday we started hearing that there we were cars that were washed away by floods. Then since they were not home we decided to come and see here. I had seven children in that car I am not sure how many others were with them.”

A house with three occupants was completely destroyed. A father, who tried to rescue his two children in distress, was also killed.

Search and recovery efforts are still underway in Ladysmith.

Search continues for missing residents:

Meanwhile, the body of an eight-year-old boy, who was swept away while trying to cross the Tugela river in the Sundumbili area of Mandeni on the north coast of KwaZulu-Natal, has been recovered. It is believed that the child was with a 37-year-old man.

The search for the missing man continues.

IPSS Medical Rescue’s, Samantha Meyrick says the Tugela River and its tributaries are currently full and fast-flowing, making search efforts difficult.

“The two people including an eight-year-old boy were washed away last night when attempting to cross the Tugela River. Members of the IPSS Search and Rescue were dispatched alongside Umhlali SAPS K9 Search and Rescue and Empangeni Search and responded to the area to search for the victims. The search continues for the missing man. Our condolences to the friends and family of the deceased.”

Disaster management teams across the province remain on high alert as rains are expected to clear only later this week.