The eThekwini municipality has warned residents to take immediate precautions, following a level two severe weather warning from the South African Weather Service (SAWS).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SAWS issued the warning on Sunday, 25 October, with eThekwini warning that residents should remain on alert till the evening of Monday, 26 October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The metro said the storms are expected to significantly affect KwaZulu-Natal, with Durban particularly impacted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Forecasts indicate widespread and severe thunderstorms across KwaZulu-Natal, with the eThekwini region expected to be significantly affected,” the metro said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The city warned that severe weather events, such as hail, are expected in the area, which can pose a threat to property and people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Heavy downpours, strong damaging winds, excessive lightning, and hail are anticipated, posing a serious risk to life, property, and infrastructure,” eThekwini said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The SAWS also warned that large amounts of either large or small hail are possible over open areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Anticipated thunderstorms may result in flooding on roads, bridges, and low-lying areas. Poor visibility and slippery road surfaces are expected to make driving hazardous.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The city also warned residents in low-lying or flood-prone areas to take “necessary precautions”, such as identifying evacuation routes to higher ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Motorists have also been warned to reduce speeds and exercise caution during severe weather when visibility is low, and road conditions are poor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Motorists are advised to exercise caution, reduce speed, and maintain safe following distances on wet and slippery roads,” the metro said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Where possible, residents are encouraged to remain indoors and avoid unnecessary travel.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Durban has also placed its emergency services and Disaster Management Directorate on high alert for the severe weather warning period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Durban and its surroundings have been severely impacted by extreme weather in recent years, with flooding destroying significant infrastructure, including roads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The recent level two warning indicates that localised damage to infrastructure and private property is possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other potential risks include localised flooding in low-lying areas or on specific roads and bridges, as well as vehicle collisions due to poor road conditions and visibility.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SAWS issued a severe weather warning for residents in KZN to be on the alert for thunderstorms, excessive lightning and hail.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":796415,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"failed","_sma_x_autopost_error":"Instagram publishing failed: Instagram returned HTTP 400: Media ID is not available","_sma_x_post_id":"2114621915214016789","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2249537225866676","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[22808,16914,22941],"class_list":["post-881374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-ethekwini","tag-saws","tag-severe-weather"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=881374"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881374\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":881390,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/881374\/revisions\/881390"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/796415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=881374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=881374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=881374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}